During the copyright registration process, many authors or owners have found themselves in a situation where they have submitted a complete application but are still waiting for the competent authority to issue a Certificate. Meanwhile, the work has been created and is at risk of being copied and used illegally. At that time, the question is: Is the work that has been submitted but has not yet received a Certificate protected by law? The following article by VCD will help you understand better.
1. What is a Copyright Certificate?
The copyright registration procedure is just a procedure to ensure the rights of the owner in the most complete way because copyright will arise automatically when that subject meets the conditions prescribed by law.
According to the provisions of the current Intellectual Property Law, the procedure for copyright registration is the submission of an application and accompanying documents by the copyright owner to the competent state agency to record information about the author, work, and copyright owner. And carrying out this procedure will help the copyright owner reduce the obligation to prove his/her rights when there is a dispute.
Therefore, the Copyright Certificate, also known as the Copyright Registration Certificate, is a document issued by the Copyright Office, proving the legal ownership of the author or owner of the registered work. It confirms the copyright of the work, including both personal rights and property rights.
2. If the application has been submitted but the Copyright Certificate has not been granted, will it be protected by law?
According to the provisions of Article 52 of the Law on Intellectual Property on the Time limit for granting a Certificate of Copyright Registration and a Certificate of Related Rights Registration: “Within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier, the state management agency of copyright and related rights shall be responsible for granting a Certificate of Copyright Registration and a Certificate of Related Rights Registration to the applicant. In case of refusal to grant a Certificate of Copyright Registration or a Certificate of Related Rights Registration, the state management agency of copyright and related rights shall notify in writing and clearly state the reasons to the applicant.”
In practice, the time limit for processing a dossier as prescribed is 51 working days, recorded on the Receipt of the dossier and an appointment to return the result upon submission of a valid dossier.
During the time the Department processes the application and has not yet been granted a Copyright Certificate but a copyright dispute arises over the work, the law still protects it because:
According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 6 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended and supplemented in 2022, copyright arises from the moment the work is created and expressed in a certain material form, regardless of content, quality, form, means, language, whether published or not, or registered or not. Thus, submitting a copyright registration application is not a condition for the creation of copyright.
In fact, as soon as the work is completed and stored in a tangible form, copyright has been established and protected by law. During the period from the submission of the application to the issuance of the Copyright Certificate, the right holder is still protected by law if an infringement occurs. The right holder has the right to request competent agencies and organizations to handle the infringement according to regulations.
However, when the Copyright Certificate has not been granted, the proof of ownership will have to be based on other evidence such as: the original or draft of the work, electronic storage data with the time of creation, emails or related documents, witness statements, etc. These evidences can be used as a basis to determine the author or copyright owner, but often require a lot of time and effort and may potentially pose risks in terms of evidentiary value.
On the contrary, when the Copyright Certificate has been granted, the right holder has in hand a valuable legal evidence, making it easier and faster to prove the rights and request protection. Therefore, although registration does not give rise to copyright, this is a necessary procedure to strengthen the legal basis and improve the effectiveness of protecting the legitimate rights of authors and owners.
Above is the article “If I have submitted my application but have not yet been granted a Copyright Certificate, will I be protected by law?” that VCD sent to you. We hope this article is useful to you.
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