Author: Editor VCD

Using famous sentences, poems, and songs to make slogans and taglines for your brand can help the brand spread its reputation and become more known to more people because they all know the sentences and poems that famous songs. However, would a brand doing so be considered copyright infringement?

In advertising campaigns, brands can use famous and meaningful sentences, poems, and songs to carry out advertising, create slogans for products, and express the properties of products or things. That brands and products will bring to consumers. For example, in ViettelMoney’s advertising campaign, the line “Ting Ting in 1 note” was used in the song “Out of Mana” performed by Bigdaddy, Justatee, Binh Gold to represent the service’s ability to transfer money quickly provided by ViettelMoney. Moreover, a part of singer Sia’s song Titanium was used in an advertisement for Unilever’s Closeup toothpaste product. It can be seen that using famous sentences, poems, and songs to make advertising slogans for brands is very popular and brings positive effects to the brand. However, to do that, brands also need to pay attention to copyright issues when using famous sentences, poems, and songs of others.

Using a famous sentence, poem, or song to make a slogan or tagline for a brand is copying part of a work for commercial use. According to Clause 2, Article 20 of the Intellectual Property Law, organizations and individuals when exploiting and using the right to copy the above work must obtain permission from the copyright owner to pay royalties, other benefits, and other material (if any) to the copyright owner.

In addition, for works extracted from audio or video recordings, according to Article 26, Clause 1, Point b, Article 33, Clause 1, Point b of the Intellectual Property Law, in case the work has been copyrighted by the owner. If the author allows fixation on audio or video recordings for commercial purposes, organizations and individuals using these audio or video recordings in business or commercial activities do not have to ask for permission but must pay royalties to the copyright owner of the work, to the performers, producers of audio and video recordings, and broadcasting organizations according to the agreement from the time of use. In case an agreement cannot be reached, the rate schedule prescribed by the Government will be implemented. More specifically, Article 35 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP also stipulates that if the above individuals and organizations do not pay royalties within 90 days from use, they must stop further use.

Above is the article “Using a famous sentence, verse, or song as a slogan or tagline for a brand is copyright infringement?“. Hope this article is useful to you.

Nowadays, when building a brand, people not only focus on the image but also invest in sound. This sound represents the identity and values of the business, combined with images to become a brand identifier in the market, for example, the sound of Coca-Cola opening the lid or “I’m lovin’ it” from McDonald’s. Therefore, what is a brand identity sound, and is it protected by copyright?

1. What does brand identity sound like?

Brand identity sounds are characteristic sounds used by brands to reinforce brand awareness among consumers, also known as audio logos. Brand recognition sounds are often short, and easy to recognize and remember, for example, the sound of reading a brand slogan, a short melody, a characteristic sound of a product, etc. Brands use characteristic sounds. to help audiences associate those sounds with their brand. There is no need to see the logo image, just need people to hear the sound and they will immediately associate with the brand.

Exclusive sound for brand recognition creates distinction and a competitive advantage over other competitors. Many brands have spent effort and money to invest in developing and building unique brand identity sounds, bearing their brand characteristics. For example, Mastercard has created a sound mix to identify its brand in the Vietnamese market, using traditional Vietnamese musical instruments such as flute, monochord, and zither; Shopee with its signature “Shopee” notification sound,…

2. Are brand identity sounds protected by copyright?

According to Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law, types of works protected by copyright include:

• Literary, scientific works, textbooks, course books, and other works expressed in writing or other characters;

• Sermons, speeches, and other talks;

• Journalistic works;

• Musical works;

• Theater works;

• Cinematographic works and works created by similar methods (hereinafter collectively referred to as cinematographic works);

• Works of fine arts and applied arts;

• Photographic works;

• Architectural works;

• Maps, diagrams, maps, and drawings related to topography, architecture, and scientific works;

• Literary and folk artworks;

• Computer programs, and data collection.

From the above regulations, it can be seen that brand recognition sounds do not satisfy any type of work protected by copyright under Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law. In particular, it is necessary to avoid confusing the brand identity sound with a musical work – which is one of the types of works protected by copyright under Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law. Although some brand sounds are short pieces of music, they cannot be considered musical works. A musical work is a work expressed in the form of notes in music or other musical characters regardless of performance or non-performance (According to Article 6, Clause 4, Decree 17/2023/ND-CP ). The brand identity sound is just a short melody, even if it is recorded as notated music, it cannot be considered a complete piece of music. Therefore, the brand identity sound, even if it is a melody, does not qualify to be considered a musical work and is not protected by copyright.

On the other hand, in case the brand identity sound exists in the form of an audio recording, according to Article 17 of the Intellectual Property Law, the audio or video recording is protected by related rights if it falls into one of the following cases. :

• Audio and video recordings by producers of audio and video recordings with Vietnamese nationality;

• Audio and video recordings of producers of audio and video recordings are protected under international treaties of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

It can be concluded that, although brand recognition sounds are not protected by copyright, sound recordings containing brand recognition sounds are still protected by related rights under Vietnamese intellectual property law.

Above is the article “Is brand identity sound protected by copyright?“. Hope this article is useful to you.

On October 26, 2004, Vietnam joined the Berne Convention on the protection of literary and artistic works. After many amendments, the Berne Convention is meeting the requirements for copyright protection in the current 4.0 technology era. Therefore, as a member of the Berne Convention, Vietnam has gradually researched and promulgated regulations on Intellectual Property that meet the requirements that this Convention sets for member States, including the Effectiveness of copyright protection according to the International Convention

1. What is copyright protection?

According to the Vietnamese Dictionary, “protection” means not being susceptible to loss. Therefore, copyright protection is the State’s guarantee of works so that those works are not infringed or damaged by others. Although legal provisions determine the rights of subjects to works, identify acts considered to be infringing as well and establish methods to protect the rights of authors, the State carries out its responsibilities. your protection in the most convincing way. In Vietnam, the concept of protecting intellectual property rights was first stipulated in Part V of the Vietnamese Intellectual Property Law.

Copyright protection according to the Berne Convention Is compliance with the regulations on copyright protection as follows:

• Regarding the subject: based on Article 2 of the Berne Convention as follows: “(Protected works: 1. Literary and artistic works; 2. Ability to request fixation; 3. Derivative works; 4. Official documents; 5. Collection; 6. Protection obligations, subjects enjoying protection; 7. Works of applied art and industrial designs; 8. News.)”

• Form of protected work: must be expressed in material form.

• Term of protection.

• In addition, regarding protection rights, principles must also be followed such as: (1) Principle of national treatment; (2) Natural protection; (3) Independent protection.

2. Is copyright valid internationally?

A creative work is considered copyrighted as soon as it is created. According to two international copyright conventions (especially the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works), literary and artistic works are protected without the need to carry out any procedures in the United States. State parties to these conventions (151 states as of August 2003 – list of states parties is in Annex VII). This regulation also applies to all members of the World Trade Organization.

Copyright is widely regulated in the Berne Convention. However, based on Article 3 and Article 5 of the Berne Convention, the rules for international copyright protection are quite detailed as follows:

• In terms of scale: the protected work may be a citizen of a country that is a member of the Berne Convention or not but a citizen of one of the countries that is a member of the Union and published for the first time in one of the member countries of the Union, having a permanent residence in one of the above countries is still automatically protected regardless of whether a protection certificate has been registered or not.

• Regarding governing law: in addition to this convention, copyright protection is also governed by the law of the country of origin. Article 5 regulates the country of origin as follows:

“a) Member State of the Union where the work was first published. However, suppose a work is published simultaneously in many Union member countries with different protection terms. In that case, the country of origin of the work is the country with the shortest protection term”.

Therefore, there is no international registration procedure to protect copyrights such as patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. While there is no international procedure for registering copyright protection abroad your work is automatically protected without registration in all member states of the Berne Convention.

Although there are still some differences, the Berne Convention and the Vietnamese Intellectual Property Law both provide for the protection of works created and expressed in a certain material form, regardless of content, quality, form, medium, or language. In addition, the Berne Convention and the Vietnamese Intellectual Property Law also provide for automatic protection, specifically, a work created by the intellect will be automatically protected, including publication and registration—protection certificate or not.

Above is the article: “Effectiveness of copyright protection according to the International Convention“. Hope this article will help you.”

The principle of fair use is a principle named after a US doctrine on the limitations and exceptions allowed to use copies of works without being considered illegal copyright infringement. International conventions and agreements have also mentioned these limited and exceptional cases, typically the Berne Convention with the “three-step test” of which Vietnam is a member. The revised Vietnam Intellectual Property Law in 2022 has absorbed and applied the provisions of international law and for the first-time stipulated exceptions and limitations of copyright.

1. Principle of fair use in international law

According to Article 9.2 of the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works, it is stipulated: “The laws of member countries of the Union shall, in certain special cases, have the right to authorize the reproduction and printing of the above-mentioned works, provided that such reproduction does not prejudice the normal exploitation of the work or unreasonably affect the author’s legitimate rights. This provision is understood that copying a work protected by copyright will not be considered an infringement of the author’s exclusive right to copy if that act:

• Subject to special exceptions provided for by national law;

• Without prejudice to the normal exploitation of the work;

• Do not unreasonably damage the author’s legitimate interests.

In addition, Article 13 of the 1994 TRIPS Agreement also stipulates: “Member countries must determine limits or exceptions to exclusive rights for several special cases that do not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not cause unreasonable harm to the author’s legitimate interests. The 1996 WIPO Treaty also stipulates similar content in Article 10.

Section 107 of the United States Copyright Law is called “Limitations on Exclusive Use: Fair Use.” Accordingly, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including use by reproduction in the form of a photocopy or phonorecord or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes of Purposes such as criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research, are not copyright infringement, but must meet four conditions: Conditions: (i) The purpose and nature of the act of use, considering whether the use is commercial or for non-profit educational purposes (ii) The nature of the part of the work used; (iii) The number and nature of the works cited as a whole; (iv) The impact of using the work on the potential market and value of the work protected by copyright[2].

2. Fair use principles in Vietnamese law

Vietnam has internalized and implemented regulations on “fair use” in international commitments. Specifically, the revised Intellectual Property Law in 2022 stipulates in Article 25 and Article 32, named respectively as exceptional cases that do not infringe copyright and related rights, clearly stating the cases Using published works does not require permission or pay royalties, but must provide information about the author’s name and origin, origin of the work, information about performances, audio and video recordings, broadcast program. At the same time, the law also stipulates that such uses must not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and must not cause unreasonable damage to the legitimate interests of the author or copyright owner. Cases considered fair use that do not infringe copyright include:

• Copy one copy for scientific research and personal study, and not for commercial purposes. This provision does not apply in the case of copying using a copying device;

• Reasonable copying of a portion of the work using a copying device for scientific research, personal study, and not for commercial purposes;

• Reasonably use the work for illustration in lectures, publications, performances, audio and video recordings, and broadcasts for teaching purposes. This use may include distribution on an internal computer network provided that technical measures are in place to ensure that only learners and instructors in that class session have access to this work;

• Using works in public service activities of state agencies;

• Reasonably cite the work without misrepresenting the author’s intention to comment, introduce, or illustrate in his work; for writing articles, for use in periodicals, broadcast programs, and documentaries;

• Using works in library activities for non-commercial purposes, including copying works stored in the library for preservation purposes, provided that this copy is marked as an archival copy and is limited to objects of access according to the provisions of the law on libraries and archives;

• Reasonably copy part of the work using copying equipment for others to serve research and study; copy or transmit works stored for inter-library use via computer networks, provided that the number of readers at the same time does not exceed the number of copies of the work issued by the said libraries hold, except as authorized by the rights owner and does not apply in cases where the work has been made available on the market in digital form;

• Performing works of theater, music, dance, and other forms of artistic performance in cultural events and propaganda activities for non-commercial purposes;

• Taking photos or broadcasting works of fine art, architecture, photography, or applied art displayed in public places to introduce the image of that work, not for commercial purposes;

• Importing copies of other people’s works for personal, non-commercial use;

• Copy by republishing in newspapers, periodicals, broadcasting, or other forms of communication to the public lectures, speeches, or other talks presented to the public within the scope consistent with the purpose news information purposes, unless the author claims copyright;

• Taking photos, recording audio, and video, and broadcasting events for news reporting, including using works heard or seen during that event;

• People with visual disabilities, people with disabilities who cannot read print, and other people with disabilities who cannot access works to read in the usual way (hereinafter referred to as people with disabilities), people who nurture and care for them. for people with disabilities and organizations that meet the conditions prescribed by the Government to use the work.

• Live recording or video recording of part of a performance for non-commercial teaching purposes or news reporting;

• Self-copy or assist people with disabilities to copy part of performances, audio recordings, video recordings, and broadcasts for scientific research and personal study purposes and not for commercial purposes;

• Reasonable copying of a portion of a performance, audio recording, video recording, or broadcast program for personal instruction and not for commercial purposes, except in the case of performances, audio recordings, or video recordings, this broadcast has been published for teaching purposes;

• Proper citation for news reporting purposes;

• Broadcasting organizations make temporary copies for broadcasting when they are entitled to broadcast rights.

Above is the article “Principle of “fair use” in Vietnamese intellectual property law“. We hope this article is useful to you.

For the author or owner of the work, copyright registration will be a recognition of their efforts and creativity, and a talisman to prove if a dispute occurs. However, in reality, there are still many conflicting opinions surrounding copyright registration. And, without copyright registration, will the works be protected? Please follow our article below.

1. What is copyright registration?

“Copyright is the right of organizations and individuals to works they create or own” based on Clause 2, Article 4 of the Intellectual Property Law. Copyright is recognized for literary works, art, books, lectures, musical works, theatrical works, cinematographic works, computer software… When a work is created, the author, or owner of the work, will have moral and property rights to that work.

Copyright registration is an act in which the author or owner carries out registration procedures with a competent authority according to the provisions of law to establish and declare legal ownership of the work through a Certificate. This is a legal recognition of creativity; The author’s efforts with their brainchild. Currently, copyright registration is not mandatory, but only subjects that meet the following conditions have the right to register copyright:

• Organizations and individuals whose works are protected by copyright include the person directly creating the product and the owner of the work being protected by copyright in Vietnam as above.

• According to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law, the author or owner of a work can be a domestic individual or legal entity or a foreign individual or legal entity and has the right to apply for copyright registration for the author. your work at the Copyright Office.

When submitting an individual registration application, a domestic legal entity can directly or authorize a copyright representative organization to submit the registration application to the registration agency on its behalf. Individuals and foreign legal entities who want to register a copyright in Vietnam will authorize a copyright representative organization to apply to register the work in Vietnam.

2. Basis for rising copyright

According to Clause 1, Article 6 of the Intellectual Property Law, it is stipulated: “Copyright rights arise from the moment a work is created and expressed in a certain physical form, regardless of content, quality, shape or form. form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered”. Accordingly, copyright is protected when two conditions are met:

• Fixation: expressed in a certain physical form;

• Originality: understood as the author himself creating the work, and this work must be the result of the first original creation.

Therefore, immediately after completing the work and even though copyright registration procedures have not yet been carried out, copyright will still arise from that moment. When a dispute occurs, in addition to the Copyright Certificate, the State Agency will base it on the time the work was created and shaped in a certain physical form.

3. Effects of copyright registration

Although copyright registration is not mandatory. However, if the author or owner of the work registers copyright with the Copyright Office, it will bring many advantages. After completing copyright registration procedures, the author or owner of the work is granted a Copyright Certificate. This is a certification of the author’s creativity and worthy rewards, encouraging the working spirit of the creator. In particular, registration will be the basis to confirm the time when copyright arises and the rights of the owner of the work.

The copyright registration certificate is intended to ensure the creator of a work against acts of illegal use of the work such as theft, copying, or misuse of that work.

In case of a dispute, the Copyright Registration Certificate is the best evidence proving the author’s ownership of the work. Because, in reality, proving ownership of a work that has not been registered for protection is very difficult.

If the author discovers that someone is illegally using his or her work, the author can request that the user stop using it and claim compensation for damages. This can only be done when the author has registered his copyright.

A copyright certificate is a type of document proving ownership of a work, used when valuing a company’s assets in cases of equitization, business acquisition, or merger.

Above is the article “Are the works protected without copyright registration?”. Hope this article will help you.