How many years is copyright protection?

The duration of copyright protection is a matter of great concern to many individuals and organizations when exploiting and using works in practice. Many cases of legal violations stem from misunderstanding or not knowing the protection period for each group of rights. So, how many years is copyright protection and how is this period calculated? Let’s find out with VCD in the article below!

What is copyright?

According to Clause 2, Article 4 of the 2022 Intellectual Property Law, copyright is defined as follows:

“Copyright is the right of an organization or individual to a work created or owned by them.” This right includes two basic groups of rights: moral rights and property rights, aiming to comprehensively protect the spiritual value and economic exploitation value of the work.”

Regarding moral rights, authors are legally guaranteed rights such as: naming their work; using their real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used; deciding whether to publish the work or permit others to publish it; and protecting the integrity of the work’s content, preventing others from distorting, modifying, or abridging it in a way that affects their honor and reputation.

Regarding property rights, authors or copyright owners have the right to commercially exploit their work through various forms such as: creating derivative works; performing them publicly; copying the work in any form; distributing and transferring copies of the work; broadcasting and communicating the work to the public through technical means; renting the original or copies for cinematographic works, computer programs, and other legitimate forms of exploitation.

In short, copyright is a set of legal rights granted to the creator or owner of a work, ensuring recognition of intellectual labor and providing a basis for… for the purpose of exploiting the economic value of the work, regardless of its specific form of expression.

How many years is copyright protection?

According to Article 27 of the 2022 Intellectual Property Law, the term of copyright protection is stipulated as follows:

The term of protection for moral rights is indefinite, except for the right to publish the work or to allow others to publish the work.

In that case, the term of protection for the right to publish will be similar to property rights, but the protection term will differ for each type of work as follows:

• Cinematographic works, photographic works, applied art works, and anonymous works have a protection term of 75 years from the date of first publication;

• Cinematographic works, photographic works, and applied art works that have not been published within 25 years from the date of their creation have a protection term of 100 years from the date of their creation;

• In the case of anonymous works, when information about If the author or the work does not fall under the above categories, the protection period is calculated for the author’s lifetime and 50 years after the author’s death; in the case of a work with co-authors, the protection period ends in the fiftieth year after the death of the last remaining co-author.

Note: This protection period ends at 24:00 on December 31st of the year the copyright protection period expires.

Example:

Author A created a book (which has been published) and passed away in 2020. According to regulations, the property rights to this work are protected for the author’s lifetime and 50 years after the author’s death.

Therefore, the protection period will be calculated from 2020 to the end of 2070 and will end at 24:00 on December 31st, 2070. From January 1st, 2071, this work falls under the scope of copyright protection. The public and all organizations and individuals can use the work without permission or royalties (but the author’s name must still be credited according to regulations on moral rights).

Important note when using works after their protection period has expired

Many people believe that once a work’s protection period has expired, it can be used freely in any way. However, this understanding is not entirely accurate. In reality, even though property rights have ended and the work belongs to the public domain, the author’s moral rights are still protected indefinitely by law.

Therefore, when exploiting or using works whose protection period has expired, individuals and organizations need to pay special attention to the following issues:

First, the author’s name must still be credited when using the work.

Even without permission or royalties, crediting the author is a mandatory obligation to respect the creative work of the person who created the work.

Second, it is not permitted to distort, modify, or cut the work. Trimming the content of the work.

The work may be freely exploited, but its original content and meaning must not be distorted, or used in a way that affects the author’s honor and reputation.

Third, the work must not be used in negative or offensive contexts.

Introducing the work into inappropriate environments or content may be considered a violation of the right to protect the integrity of the work.

Fourth, it is necessary to accurately determine whether the work’s protection period has actually expired.

Before using a work, it’s crucial to carefully check the expiration date of the protection period as stipulated by law to avoid violations due to misunderstandings about the timeframe.

It’s clear that the expiration of protection doesn’t automatically mean the author has the right to use the work arbitrarily. Respecting the author’s moral rights remains a mandatory principle when exploiting works in the public domain.

The above is an article titled “How many years is copyright protection?“. Understanding the protection period not only helps authors and owners protect their rights but also helps individuals and organizations use works in accordance with regulations, avoiding the risk of legal violations during exploitation and use.

Sincerely,

FAQ