Author: Editor VCD

Determination of damage caused by infringement of copyright and related rights

Written by Editor VCD on 2 November, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Copyright-related rights.

When copyright or related rights are infringed, determining the damage caused is not an easy matter. So, how is the damage that occurs when copyright or related rights are violated determined? This is one of the contents guided in Decree 17/2023/ND-CP dated April 26, 2023, detailing several articles and measures to implement the Intellectual Property Law on copyright and related rights. mandarin.

1. General principles

According to Article 204 of Vietnam’s Intellectual Property Law, damages caused by infringement of copyright and related rights include:

Material damage includes property loss, loss of income and profits, loss of business opportunities, and reasonable costs to prevent and repair damage;

Mental damage includes loss of honor, dignity, reputation, and other mental damage caused to the author of literary, artistic, or scientific works and performers.

Principles for determining damages due to infringement of copyright and related rights are specified in Article 69 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP, specifically as follows:

Damage due to infringement of copyright and related rights is the actual physical and mental loss caused directly by the infringement to the copyright or related rights holder.

There is considered to be an actual loss if there are all of the following grounds:
- Material or spiritual benefits are real and belong to the person who suffers damage: Material or spiritual benefits are the result (product) of copyright or related rights and the person who suffers damage is the person who has the right to enjoy it. that material or spiritual benefit;
- The damaged person can achieve the above benefits under certain conditions if no infringement of copyright or related rights occurs;
- There is a reduction or loss of benefits for the damaged person after an act of infringement of copyright or related rights occurs compared to the ability to achieve such benefits when there is no act of infringement and the act of infringement is the direct cause of the decrease or loss of that benefit.

In particular, the level of damage is determined based on the actual losses that the intellectual property rights holder has suffered due to the act of infringing intellectual property rights. The level of damage determined must be consistent with the factor of infringement of the rights of the subject of copyright or related rights and must be based on evidence of damage provided by the parties, including inspection results and copies to declare damages, clarifying the bases for determining and calculating the level of damage.

2. Determine specific damages due to infringement of copyright and related rights

Mental damage

Specific damages include damage to honor and dignity, reduction or loss of trust, reputation, reputation, or trust due to misunderstanding, time to endure the loss, and level of pain, injury, sadness, and emotional loss to the extent that the violating individual or organization must apologize, publicly rectify, and compensate for mental damage.

2.1. Property damage

Property damage is determined according to the degree of reduction or loss in the monetary value of the protected copyright object and related rights. Those values are determined as follows:

Price of transfer of ownership or transfer of rights to use copyright objects and related rights;

Value of business capital contribution by copyright and related rights;

The value of copyright and related rights in the total assets of the enterprise;

Investment value for research, creation, and development to create works and related rights objects, including investment costs, research, technical equipment, facilities, and expenses marketing, advertising, labor, taxes, and other costs.

The determination of the monetary value of copyright and related rights objects is carried out by the valuation enterprise by the law on valuation. The valuation results of the valuation enterprise are used as one of the bases for competent organizations and individuals to consider, decide, or approve the price of the appraised asset.

2.2. Decrease in income and profits

Types of income and profits considered include:

Income and profits obtained from direct or indirect exploitation and use of copyright and related rights objects;

Income and profits earned from leasing copyright and related rights objects that are originals or copies of cinematographic works and computer programs;

Income and profits obtained from transferring the right to use copyright and related rights;

Income and profits obtained from transferring ownership of copyright and related rights.

The decrease in income and profit is determined on one or more of the following bases:

Effects on normal exploitation of works, performances, audio recordings, video recordings, and broadcasts: Compare the number of actual copies consumed or supplied before and after the act of infringement occurs; Compare the frequency of exploitation, use, screening, broadcasting, communication, and access to works, performances, audio recordings, video recordings, and broadcasts before and after the infringement occurs; Compare the number of users and subscribers before and after the infringement occurred;

Compare the actual market price of the copy before and after the infringement;

Causing unreasonable damage to the legitimate interests of rights holders: Direct comparison of revenue earned from exploiting and using copyright objects and related rights before and after the act occurs infringement, corresponding to each type of income specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

2.3. Loss of business opportunities

Lost business opportunities are understood as:

Ability to generate profits and increase brand value through actual use and direct exploitation of copyright and related rights in business; number of customers using;

Ability to generate profits and increase brand value through advertising and marketing using copyright and related rights;

Ability to generate profits and increase brand value through leasing copyright and related rights objects to others, which are originals or copies of cinematographic works, computer programs, sound recordings, and recordings images;

Ability to generate profits and increase brand value through the actual transfer of rights to use copyright objects and related rights, transfer of copyright objects and related rights to others;

Other business opportunities are lost due to direct infringement of copyright and related rights.

Loss of business opportunity is the loss of the monetary value of the income that the injured person could have earned by exercising the above possibilities but in fact, did not get that income due to acts of infringement of copyright and related rights.

3. Reasonable costs to prevent and repair damage

Reasonable costs to prevent and remedy damage include costs for temporary detention, preservation, storage, and storage of infringing goods, costs for implementing temporary emergency measures, and reasonable costs for infringing goods. reasonable costs to hire a lawyer, reasonable costs to hire services to assess, prevent, and remedy infringements, and costs for notification and correction on mass media related to infringements of copyright and related rights.

Above is the article “Determination of damage caused by infringement of copyright and related rights“. Hope this article is useful to you.

Principle of “fair use” in Vietnamese intellectual property law?

Written by Editor VCD on 1 November, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

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.

Is the brand’s slogan, and tagline protected by copyright?

Written by Editor VCD on 31 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Sketches, plans, maps and drawings related to topography, architecture or scientific works.

Business slogans (slogan, tagline) are one of the ways to impress and attract consumers and are also a sign for consumers to easily recognize the brand. For example, the Nike shoe company’s slogan is “Just do it”, Disneyland’s is “When dreams come true” and Coca-Cola’s is “Open happiness”,… Business slogans themselves are often seen as phrases or sentence that is very simple but impressive and brings great efficiency to business. Therefore, Is the brand’s slogan, and tagline protected by ?

1. What are slogans and taglines?

Slogans and taglines are both impressive short phrases or sentences, used by brands so that consumers can easily recognize and distinguish that brand and its products from other brands.

The slogan is a short, impressive, and attractive phrase or sentence, often used to convey the value of the product and the spirit of the brand in advertising campaigns. Slogans are often associated with certain products and have a short-term appearance. Slogans can be changed when a brand launches a new product or carries out a new advertising campaign.

A tagline is a short phrase or sentence used to convey a brand’s values, helping to create a lasting impression with consumers and increase overall brand awareness. The tagline is integrated and helps express the core values of the brand, its vision, and its long-term mission. The tagline always goes hand in hand with the brand’s image, is used for a long time, and hardly changes during the brand’s operation. Taglines are often shorter than slogans.

To be able to have impressive and highly effective slogans and taglines, creators must go through a process of thinking, creating, and researching carefully. However, the created product is a slogan. From the perspective of intellectual property, whether this slogan is protected by copyright or not depends on the form of expression of that slogan.

2. Are slogans and taglines protected by copyright?

According to Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law, subjects protected by copyright are literary, artistic, and scientific works, including:

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);
Fine artworks; 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.

Slogans and taglines are often just short phrases or sentences, which can be shaped in written form, on graphic design logos, or on advertising recordings. However, if the slogan or tagline is formatted in written form, separate from the brand logo, it is not considered a written work and does not belong to one of the subjects of copyright protection mentioned above. Because when separated from the brand, that phrase or slogan is a completely everyday saying, does not convey the meaning that the brand wants to convey, and does not ensure the creativity of the work. At that time, business slogans such as slogans and taglines were not protected by copyright.

In addition, if a slogan or tagline is designed to accompany the brand’s logo, that design is considered part of the logo and can be protected by copyright as a work of applied art use. On the other hand, if the slogan or tagline is formatted as a sound recording, that sound recording will be protected by related rights. However, businesses need to note that copyright only protects the form of expression and does not protect the content, so in these two cases, ownership of copyright for brand logos and records Sounds containing slogans and taglines will only prevent others from copying and using these two objects without preventing others from imitating those slogans and taglines to use for their own brands.

Therefore, slogans and taglines cannot be protected if expressed in regular written form. Only when a slogan or tagline is designed in conjunction with a brand logo, or is presented in the form of a recording, will copyright be protected for the corresponding form of expression of the work.

Above is the article “Is the brand’s slogan and tagline protected by copyright?”. We hope this article is useful to you.

Are the works protected without copyright registration?

Written by Editor VCD on 30 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

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.

Copyright registration and practical difficulties

Written by Editor VCD on 27 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

Registering copyright for works has become an inevitable procedure when the issue of copyright infringement and use without the author’s consent becomes more and more common. However, in reality, copyright registration is a complicated procedure that requires a lot of experience, leading to the fact that many authors or other registered entities often encounter certain difficulties. Therefore, this article will focus on exploring some practical difficulties when registering a copyright.

1. Copyright registration procedures

Copyright automatically arises from the moment the work is created in a certain material form, regardless of content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or not registered. Accordingly, copyright is protected when it satisfies two conditions: (1) is fixed, expressed in a certain material form; (2) to be original, the work must be composed for the first time and by that author.

Currently, copyright registration will be based on the 2005 Intellectual Property Law (amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, and 2022); Decree 17/2023/ND–CP detailing several articles and measures to implement the Intellectual Property Law on copyright and related rights; Circular 08/2023 regulates forms for registration of copyright and related rights.

Determine the type of work to be registered

Before preparing the copyright registration dossier, the owner and author must determine the type of work intended to be registered according to Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law.

Prepare and draft copyright registration documents

After determining the type of work intended for copyright registration, the owner and author of the work will proceed to draft the copyright registration dossier according to the law.

Basically, when registering a copyright, the author needs to prepare the following documents and records (in Vietnamese):

Copyright registration declaration (according to the corresponding form in Circular 08/2023/TT-BVHTTDL dated June 2, 2023, Circular stipulating forms for copyright and related rights registration activities).

Two copies of the copyrighted work. For works with unique characteristics such as paintings, statues, monuments, reliefs, and monumental paintings associated with architectural works; works that are too large and bulky, copies of registered works are replaced by three-dimensional photographs.

In case the author or owner authorizes another organization, there must be an additional power of attorney. If authorizing another individual, the authorization document must be authenticated according to the provisions of law.

Documents proving the right to apply;

Written consent of co-authors, if the work has co-authors;

Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright is jointly owned;

Notarized identity card of the author or owner of the work;

Notarized copy of the company’s Business Registration Certificate (if the owner is a company).

Apply for copyright registration

There are three ways to submit copyright registration documents: (1) submit directly to the Copyright Office; (2) submit by mail; (3) submit online via the Online Public Service Portal.

2. Some practical difficulties when registering copyright

Although copyright registration has become popular, in reality, this registration still faces many difficulties:

Firstly, the registration application processing time is slower than the regulations. According to the law, the time for the Copyright Office to process and check the validity of the dossier is 01 month from the date of receiving the dossier. In case the dossier is valid according to regulations, within 15 working days, the competent state agency is responsible for issuing a Copyright Registration Certificate.

However, the general situation of copyright registration applications for simple works such as works of applied art, written works, and photographic works… is that the actual implementation time often takes time. lasting more than a month, or even more than two months. This may also partly stem from the increasing number of copyright registration applications over the years, leading to overload.

Secondly, the name and content of the work registered for protection as works of applied art should be noted to remove the word “banner” or “slogan” from the name of the work. In the past 2-3 years, the Copyright Office has often not approved registered works containing the above phrases for the reason that copyright protection does not protect “slogan”.

Thirdly, the system for looking up copyrighted records is still in its infancy. Currently, works that have been granted copyright certificates can only be searched on one channel: the yearbook search section on the copyright department’s website. Compared to other industrial property lookup channels, this lookup is still too rudimentary and the amount of updated information is not enough to meet the lookup needs of customers.

Besides, there are still some remaining difficulties such as:

The process of preparing documents, documents, and related papers is very difficult to learn and prepare yourself. Registration documents may be invalid, missing, or even incorrect, causing time-consuming processing later;

In cases where travel is not convenient, pay the registration fee via bank transfer and then apply by post to the competent authority. This is the process that causes the most problems that the subject needs to solve because it will not receive direct support from the authorities;

After applying, you need to monitor the status of the registration application to promptly respond in writing to the competent state agency when any problems arise.

Difficulty completing and supplementing documents following the law.

Registering copyright and related rights has many benefits, in addition, instructions on procedures and dossiers for registering copyright and related rights are also posted in great detail by the Copyright Office on the department’s website. Copyright has created many advantages for people in the process of establishing copyright. The regulations for registering copyright on black and white paper are simple, but when registering a copyright, you will see the inadequacies and difficulties. Therefore, to avoid wasting a lot of time, authors or owners of works should seek out experienced service and consulting organizations for timely support and processing.

Above is the article: “Copyright registration and practical difficulties“. Hope this article will help you.

Is it illegal to take someone else’s book to make an e-book and share it online?

Written by Editor VCD on 26 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Written works.

Instead of traditional paper books, in the age of the information explosion, the use of electronic books (eBooks) makes it more convenient for people to read, carry, and store books. However, e-books also face an extremely high risk of copyright infringement. In many cases, paper books have been copied, made into e-books, and illegally distributed online, causing damage to authors and publishers. It can be affirmed that the act of using another person’s book to make an electronic book (eBook) and sharing it on the internet is an act of copyright infringement.

1. What is an e-book?

Electronic books are books published in digital form, existing in the form of an electronic file (digital file), used through personal electronic devices such as computers, smartphones, Tablet computers, and e-readers. E-books are released on the internet environment, readers will buy books at online stores and can download books and read them right on their devices, even when connected to the network and when they are offline with no network connection.

E-books are often formatted in formats such as EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW, TXT… which are formats that prevent others from editing the book content. Although the content cannot be edited, e-books are designed so that readers can choose the reading format (horizontal-vertical format, font style, font size, etc.) and are compatible with all screens of different sizes.

Currently, e-books are popular for reasons such as saving storage space, saving costs because the price is often cheaper than paper books, can be purchased quickly without going directly to the store, and are easy to carry when traveling.

2. The act of using another person’s book to make an electronic book (eBook) and sharing it on the internet is an act of copyright infringement

Publishers, in addition to having to deal with pirated books, also have to deal with eBooks being “pirated” and widely distributed online. There have been many individuals who have used original books published by others to make eBooks and share them on the internet, including sharing them for free or reselling them at low prices, violating the legitimate rights and interests of the owners. own copyright to those books.

According to Article 20 of the Intellectual Property Law, the right to copy works, and the right to distribute and communicate works to the public are some of the rights that are included in the property rights of the copyright owner. The copyright owner can exclusively exercise or allow other organizations and individuals to exercise the above rights. At the same time, organizations and individuals exploit and use one, some, or all of the rights. The above-mentioned must be authorized by the copyright owner and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the copyright owner.

In addition, according to Article 28 of the Intellectual Property Law, acts of infringement of the author’s property rights, including the rights to copy, distribute, communicate works, etc. are determined to be acts of infringement of copyright. Using another person’s published original book to make an ebook and share it on the internet violates the right to copy, distribute, and communicate the work belonging to the copyright owner.

The above acts may be subject to administrative sanctions according to the provisions of Decree 131/2013/ND-CP as follows:

Acts of infringing on the right to distribute works (Article 15): Fine from 10,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND and apply remedial measures to force the removal of copies of infringing works in electronic form, in the network and digital environment or force the destruction of infringing evidence.

Acts of infringing on the right to communicate works to the public (Article 17): Fine from 15,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND and apply remedial measures to force the removal of copies of infringing works.

Acts of infringing the right to copy works (Article 18): Fine from 15,000,000 VND to 35,000,000 VND and apply remedial measures to force the removal of copies of infringing works in electronic form, in the network and digital environment or force the destruction of infringing evidence.

For the above reasons, if individuals or organizations want to use a book to make an e-book, they must ask permission and pay royalties to the author or copyright owner of that book. If they do not do so, that person may be subject to administrative penalties according to the fine level mentioned above.

Above is the article “Is it illegal to take someone else’s book to make an e-book and share it online?”. We hope this article is useful to you.

Mechanism of copyright protection for press works

Written by Editor VCD on 25 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Press work.

1. Copyright for press works

A press work is the smallest constitutive unit of a journalistic product, with independent content and complete structure, including news and articles expressed in writing, sound, or images.

According to Article 6, Clause 3, Decree 17/2023/ND-CP, press works specified in Point C, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law are works with independent content and complete structure, including genres: reportage, notes, reports, interviews, reflections, investigations, comments, editorials, treatises, press memoirs, and other journalistic genres for publication and broadcast in print and newspapers verbal, visual, electronic or other means

According to Articles 19 and 20 of the Intellectual Property Law, copyright for press works includes personal rights and property rights, specifically:

Moral rights: Name the journalistic work; use real names or pseudonyms when journalistic works are published or used; Publish, disseminate, or let others publish or disseminate; Protect the integrity of journalistic works, do not allow others to edit, mutilate, or distort in any form that is harmful to your honor and reputation;

Property rights: Entitlement to royalties – money collected by organizations and individuals who exploit and use journalistic works; Receive remuneration when journalistic works are used; Enjoy material benefits from allowing others to use the work in forms such as publishing, republishing, and displaying.

2. Copyright protection mechanism for press works

Currently, the protection of copyright for journalistic works is facing many challenges when copyright infringement is still very common and diverse. Therefore, violations are becoming increasingly sophisticated with the exploitation of copyright infringement with the development of technology. Authors and owners of works need to recognize which acts violate copyright, and at the same time need to protect their works consciously. Copyright protection is implemented through the following mechanisms:

2.1. Civil measures

Civil measures are measures that allow authors to protect their works against copyright infringements that directly affect legitimate rights and interests, as well as infringements on the honor and reputation of the author’s creative knowledge, specifically:

Require the violator to remove the offending post, and commit in writing not to repeat the violation, and if the offender repeats it, stronger measures will be taken; negotiate and negotiate between the two parties to bring the most beneficial results to the author and copyright owner.

To conduct civil proceedings based on the request of the intellectual property rights holder or the organization or individual suffering damage caused by the infringement. Accordingly, the author of the infringed press work can file a lawsuit with the People’s Court of the place of residence of the individual, and the headquarters of the legal entity committing the act of infringement or the Court where the act of infringement was committed. When filing a lawsuit, the author of the infringed journalistic work needs to prepare accompanying evidence;

In case there is a claim for non-contractual damages, according to Article 584 of the 2015 Civil Code, the author is obliged to prove: (i) the act of infringement; (ii) actual damage occurred; (iii) the relationship between the infringement and the damage caused.

2.2. Criminal measures

Criminal measures are measures to handle acts of intellectual property rights infringement that are defined as crimes under criminal proceedings, specifically:

The author of a journalistic work can file a criminal complaint when discovering that another individual has committed an infringing act that meets all the elements constituting a crime as prescribed in Article 225 of the Penal Code of 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017;

The criminal complaint will be sent to the competent authority, specifically, the district investigation agency where the crime occurred or where the offender resides.

2.3. Administrative measures

Intellectual property rights holders, individuals and other organizations that suffer damage due to acts of infringement or detect acts of infringement have the right to request competent state agencies to handle administrative violations of infringement, specifically the Inspectorate, Market Management, Customs, Police, and People’s Committees at all levels will have the authority to handle acts of infringement of press works. Administrative violations due to infringement of copyright of press works and current remedial measures are prescribed in Decree No. 131/2013/ND-CP of the Government stipulating penalties for administrative violations on copyright and related rights, specifically from Article 8 to Article 12, Article 15 to Article 20, and Article 27 to Article 35.

Depending on each case, as well as the level of goodwill of the infringing party and the author’s wishes, the author of the infringed journalistic work can choose for himself/herself appropriate measures.

Above is the article “Mechanism of copyright protection for press works“. We hope this article is useful to you.

Copyright protection for data collection

Written by Editor VCD on 23 October, 2023. Posted in Computer program and data compilation, Copyright Registration.

Data collection is one of the subjects protected by copyright according to the provisions of international conventions and Vietnamese law. For example, one person collected folk songs, idioms, and proverbs from all over the country and arranged them by topic, gathering them into a book called “Vietnamese folk songs, idioms, and proverbs”, then that book is protected under the category of data collection. We would like to introduce this article to our readers to learn more about how data collection is protected by copyright in Vietnam.

1. Regulations on data collection protection according to several international conventions on intellectual property

Important international conventions on copyright, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (revised 1971), the Agreement on Commercial Aspects of Property Rights (TRIPS) of 1994, and the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) of 1996 both recognize copyright protection for data collections.

In Clause 5, Article 2 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, Data Collections are stipulated as follows: “Collections, literary works or works of art, such as Encyclopedias and anthologies, the selection or arrangement of which is the result of intellectual activity, must be protected as such, without prejudice to the copyright of the works constituting them in this collection”.

In addition, Article 10, Paragraph 2 of the 1994 TRIPS Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights stipulates: “Collections of data or other material, whether in machine-readable form or in other forms, where the selection or arrangement of content is the result of intellectual activity must be protected as it is. The above protection, to the extent that it does not cover the data or materials themselves, must not affect the existing copyright in the data or materials themselves.

In addition, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996) also mentions the protection of data collection in Article 5, specifically: “Data or other materials collected in any form, which constitute intellectual creations, are protected. This protection does not extend to the data or materials themselves and is without prejudice to any copyright in the data or materials in the collection.

Vietnam is a member of the above conventions and has codified the above provisions in the Vietnam Intellectual Property Law.

2. Regulations on data collection protection according to Vietnamese law

Data collection is one of the types of works protected by copyright, recorded at Point m, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law.

According to Article 22, Clause 2 of the Intellectual Property Law, data collection is “a creative collection expressed in the selection and arrangement of documents in electronic or other forms.” For example, a person can collect and publish his own short stories, titled “A collection of short stories by author A”; or one can collect photos of cloud landscapes in the Northwest region by many different authors and create a photo collection called “Northwest Clouds”. Currently, electronic databases are also protected by copyright in the form of data collections. The author of a data collection may or may not be the author of the documents in that data collection, but is only the person who collects and arranges the available documents in a certain order.

The author of the data collection will have full moral and property rights over that data collection, specifically:

Name the data collection work;

Put your real name or pseudonym on the data collection work; be given your real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used;

Publish the work or allow others to publish the data collection work;

Protect the integrity of the data collection work, and do not allow others to edit, mutilate, or distort the work in any form that is harmful to the author’s honor and reputation.

Making derivative works;

Directly or indirectly copy all or part of the work by any means or form;

Distributing to the public originals and copies of works;

Broadcast and communicate works to the public;

In addition, Article 22, Clause 2 of the Intellectual Property Law also stipulates that copyright protection for data collections does not cover the materials themselves, and does not prejudice the copyright of the materials themselves. Therefore, it can be understood that copyright for data collection and copyright for materials belonging to data collection are independent of each other, the implementation and formation of data collection work is independent. The data must not prejudice the materials’ copyright in the data collection.

Above is the article “Copyright protection for data collection“. We hope this article is useful to you.

Distinguish between “copyright infringement” and “plagiarism”

Written by Editor VCD on 20 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

Plagiarism is generally an unacceptable behavior in society, it is the act of taking the efforts and achievements of others into one’s work. Copyright infringement is the act of copying and using a work without permission or without paying copyright to the author according to the law. So, is plagiarism an infringement of copyright or not, and how to Distinguish between “copyright infringement” and “plagiarism”

“Plagiarism” is not a concept in the law, in other words, current Vietnamese law does not have specific, clear regulations to define or explain the issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism is an issue considered from an ethical perspective, while copyright infringement is a legal issue, clearly stipulated in the law.

Plagiarism is the act of copying work or using ideas and methods in another person’s work and incorporating them into your work, presenting them as your original work. In an academic environment, plagiarism is a serious violation of academic ethics. Plagiarism can be caused by intentional or unintentional errors. Some common acts of plagiarism include:

Improper citation of source documents;

Taking another’s work and claiming it as your own, including taking from translating foreign works;

Paraphrase someone else’s work by changing some words, changing the order of sentences, or closely following their argument structure to create your work;

Self-plagiarism (for example, submitting your work to multiple editors simultaneously, or using without explicit citation your own previously published work).

Acts of copyright infringement are acts clearly defined in Article 28 of the Intellectual Property Law. Common acts of infringement include: copying works; making derivative works; performing works; broadcasting, distributing, communicating to the public works; and… without asking permission, without paying royalties to the author and copyright owner. People who commit acts of copyright infringement must be held responsible before the law, specifically administrative or criminal sanctions, depending on the severity of the violation.

There are similarities between plagiarism and copyright infringement, such as arbitrarily copying, using works, or impersonating the author. However, not all acts of plagiarism are considered plagiarism. copyright infringement and not all acts of copyright infringement are considered plagiarism. Specifically, the article gives examples of the following cases:

There is plagiarism but does not violate copyright: a person can take the results of another person’s research work and put it into his or her research work but without citing or naming the cited work or author. author of that work.
Infringement of copyright but not plagiarism: the act of using materials available on the internet including photos, videos, paintings, audio recordings, video recordings, and articles but not within the exceptions allowed Usage permission prescribed by law may still be considered an infringement of copyright. For example, reposting other people’s articles and short stories on your blog or website without the permission of the author or copyright owner.

Above is the article “Distinguish between “copyright infringement” and “plagiarism””. We hope this article is useful to you.

Are photography works with the same subject matter considered an infringement of copyright?

Written by Editor VCD on 19 October, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Photographic work.

It is common in reality for photographers to take pictures of the same scene. Therefore, Are photography works with the same subject matter considered an infringement of copyright?

According to current provisions of Vietnamese law, photographic works are one of the types of protected works (in Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law). Photographic works are protected under the following conditions:

Created directly by the author using his or her intellectual labor without copying from the works of others (in Clause 3, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law).

Authors and copyright owners are Vietnamese organizations and individuals; Foreign organizations and individuals whose works are published for the first time in Vietnam but have not been published in any other country or are published simultaneously in Vietnam within thirty days from the date of the work that is published for the first time in another country; Foreign organizations and individuals whose works are protected in Vietnam under international copyright treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

In addition, according to Clause 1, Article 6 of the Intellectual Property Law: “Copyright arises from the moment the work is created and expressed in a certain material form, regardless of content or quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.” From the above regulations, it can be seen that copyright only protects the form of expression of the work, not the content of the work (or the ideas conveyed in the work). Therefore, if different authors take photos of the same object but have a separate form of expression of the work, independent of other authors, those photographic works are completely protected by copyright.

Specifically, taking photos of the same object but different authors express their creativity through camera angles, methods, photography techniques, and the overall idea of the work, creating different for the viewer different feelings. Although the two works capture the same subject, there is no significant similarity in expression, and if the viewer can easily distinguish the two works, both works are protected by copyright.

For the above reasons, it can be affirmed that photographic works using the same subject by different authors are not considered copyright infringement.

Above is the article “Are photography works with the same subject matter considered an infringement of copyright?“. We hope this article is useful to you.