The infringement of copyright and related rights has several financial and reputational consequences for the author and the owners of copyrights and related rights. Therefore, improving the supervision and punishment of copyright infringement acts becomes an urgent requirement, assisting in the protection of rights owners’ property. According to the provisions of Section 225 of the Criminal Code 2015, as amended and supplemented in 2017 (“The Criminal Code”), individuals and commercial legal entities may be examined for criminal responsibility for the infringement of copyright, and related rights. In this article, we will focus on analyzing Article 225 of the Criminal Code on the crime of infringing upon copyright and related rights.
1. Criminal liability for individuals
A person who, without the consent of the owners of copyrights and related rights, deliberately commits any of the following acts which infringe upon copyrights and related rights protected in Vietnam for commercial purposes or to earn an illegal profit from VND 50,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 or causes a loss of from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000 for the owners of such copyrights and related rights, or with the violating goods assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000 shall be liable to a fine of from VND 50,000,000 to VND 300,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence:
- Making copies of works, video recordings, and audio recordings publicly available.
- This offense committed in any of the following circumstances carries a fine of from VND 300,000,000 to VND 1,000,000,000 or a penalty of 06 months – 03 years imprisonment:
- Additional criminalities: The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 200,000,000 and prohibited from holding certain positions or doing certain works for 01 – 05 years.
2. Criminal liability for commercial legal entities
Any commercial legal entity without the consent of the owners of copyrights and related rights, deliberately commits any of the following acts which infringe upon copyrights and related rights protected in Vietnam for commercial purposes or to earn an illegal profit of from VND 200,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 or causes a loss of from VND 300,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000 for the owners of such copyrights and related rights, or with the violating goods assessed at from VND 300,000,000 to under VND 500,000,000; earns an illegal profit of from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 200,000,000 or causes a loss of from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 for the owners of such copyrights and related rights, or with the violating goods assessed at from VND 100,000,000 to under VND 300,000,000 while having incurred an administrative penalty for any of the offenses specified in this Article or having an unspent conviction for the same offense shall be liable to a fine of from VND 300,000,000 to VND 1,000,000,000:
- Making copies of works, video recordings, or audio recordings;
- Making copies of works, video recordings, and audio recordings publicly available.
- A commercial legal entity that committed in any of the following circumstances shall be liable to a fine of from VND 1,000,000,000 to VND 3,000,000,000 or has its operation suspended for 06 months and 02 years:
- The offense is committed by an organized group;
- The offense has been committed more than once;
- The illegal profit reaped is VND 300,000,000 or more;
- The loss incurred by the owners of copyrights and related rights is VND 500,000,000 or more;
- The illegal goods are assessed at VND 500,000,000 or more.
- Additional criminalities: The violating corporate legal entity might also be liable to a fine of from VND 100,000,000 to VND 300,000,000 and be banned from operating in certain fields or raising capital for 01 – 03 years.
3. Legal services to support copyright protection of Vietnam Copyright Development Joint Stock Company
With a team of experienced legal experts, VCD confidently assists Clients in resolving issues related to copyright protection. With the principle of always protecting Clients’ legal rights and interests, VCD strives to provide the most prompt and effective work implementation. Besides, VCD regularly reports the progress and provides the next action plan so that Clients can easily monitor and evaluate the work results. Clients can completely trust our legal services to protect the copyright.
Above is the article “Criminal responsibility for infringement of copyright, and related rights“. We hope this article is useful to you.
