Author: Editor VCD

Understand how true the publication of the work

Written by Editor VCD on 31 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

The work is considered as the brainchild of the author, which the author spends time and effort to perfect in the most perfect way. Therefore, copyright protection for works plays a very important role in recognizing the creativity of the creator. However, there are now many bad actors who, despite the unethical behavior, steal other people’s work in exchange when it has not been published. So, properly understand what the publication of the work is, please read with VCD to follow the article “Understand how true the publication of the work” below.

1. What is the publication of the work? What is the right to publish a work?

1.1. Publication of works

Unpublished works are the most vulnerable to theft because no one has yet claimed ownership of them. To easily prove ownership of the work when there is a dispute, authors and copyright holders should publish their work to the public as soon as possible.

Understood in the usual way, publication of works is the public release of literary, artistic and scientific works to let people know in forms such as publishing, displaying, performing, presenting… or registering such work at a competent state agency per with the provisions of law.

1.2. Right to publish works

Publishing works is one of the important contents of copyright. The author in the case of being simultaneously the owner of the work has the full right to publish, disseminate or for others to publish and disseminate his work. When announcing a work, the author also has the right to choose the form and type of art suitable for that work.

The right to publish a work or allow others to publish the work is one of the moral rights of copyright provided for in the Law on Intellectual Property.

According to Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree 22/2018/ND-CP dated February 23rd 2018 detailing many articles and measures to implement the Law on Intellectual Property in 2005 and the Law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Intellectual Property in 2009 on copyright and related rights stipulates:

“The right to publish the work or allow others to publish the work specified in Clause 3, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the release of the work to the public with a reasonable number of copies to meet the needs of the public depending on the nature of the work, performed by the author or copyright owner or by another individual or organization with the consent of the author or copyright owner.

Publication of works does not include the performance of a theatrical, cinematic, musical work; public reading of a literary work; broadcasting literary and artistic works; display of photographic works; building from architectural works.”

It can be seen that, from the perspective of copyright law, the term “publication of works” is interpreted differently from the usual understanding. Accordingly, publication of the work is understood as the release of copies of the work to the public, in reasonable quantities to meet the needs of the public depending on the nature of the work, with the consent of the copyright owner. The publication of the work depends on the subjective will of the author or copyright owner, regardless of the time of appearance or the number of times the work was introduced to the public and whether it was known to the public.

Thus, the time of publication of a work is the time when the author, the copyright owner releases to the public a reasonable number of copies of the work to meet the needs of the public.

2. The meaning of the publication of the work

Determining whether a work has been published or not is important to the author or copyright owner for the following reasons:

First, identifying a published work means determining when that work is published. This moment is important in the calculation of the protection period of the work.

Second, the identification of a published work determines the territorial limits for which the work is protected because the scope of copyright protection is territorial.

Third, the identification of published works determines the limits of copyright and related rights. The limit of copyright protection and related rights is the cases of using works without permission, without paying royalties and remuneration specified in Articles 25 and 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2022. Only “published” works can apply these two laws.

The labor of research and creativity is the tool and product of a cultural environment to which any countercultural behavior that occurs in that cultural environment is opposed. Therefore, to best protect the interests of authors and copyright owners, creators should register for copyright protection and related rights for their works.

Above is the article “Understand how true the publication of the work”. We hope this article is useful to you.

To perform works of art, do performers have to ask permission from the author?

Written by Editor VCD on 31 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

Art is an integral part of human life. Musical and theatrical artworks are often known to the public through the transmission of performers. However, the performer is not the person who writes the content of the work, but only the person who expresses the work through different types of theater, by technique, and by the creativity of the individual performer. Where did the content of those performances come from, it is impossible not to mention the merits of the authors, who spent time and effort to create the works. So, what is the relationship between the performer and the author, before performing works, do the performers need to ask permission from the author? In the following article, we would like to detail this content “To perform works of art do performers have to ask permission from the author?”

1. The concept of performing arts and performers

Performing arts programs from traditional art forms such as rowing, canoeing, and reform, … to modernity such as music shows, variety shows, … are no strangers to us today. From a legal perspective, according to Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree 79/2012/ND-CP, performing arts is understood as follows:

“Performing arts is the performance of a performer’s public live show, repertoire, or performance;” and

“Performing arts include: Tuong, cheo, cai luong, circus, puppetry, bai choi, drama, folk drama, pantomime, musical, symphony, singing, dance, music, recitation of poems, comedy, variety show, and other performing arts.”

Regarding performers, the performer is the common name of actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and others who present literary and artistic works (According to Clause 1, Article 16 of the Law on Intellectual Property). Performers are one of the subjects subject to related rights protection under the provisions of law.

2. To perform works of art, do performers have to ask permission from the author?

The right to perform the work in public is one of the property rights of the author, specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property. Accordingly, the author, the copyright owner is the holder of the right to “perform the work in public directly or indirectly through sound recordings, video recordings or any technical means at a location accessible to the public but the public cannot freely choose the time and part of the work“.

Since the author is the holder of the right to perform the work in public, individuals and organizations that want to perform the work must obtain permission from the author and pay royalties to the author to use the performance rights. The performance of the work without obtaining permission from the author, and without paying royalties to the author is an infringement of copyright under Article 28 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

However, there is one exception where the performer does not need to obtain permission nor pay royalties to the author. At Point g, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property provides for exceptions that do not infringe copyrights stipulating that “Performance of theatrical, musical, dance and other forms of performing arts in cultural activities and propaganda activities, not for commercial purposes” for published works is not asking for permission, do not have to pay royalties but must have information about the author’s name and the origin and appearance of the work. For example, performing work at a collective meeting at a school, residential area, or company not for commercial purposes is allowed to perform without permission, however, they have to clearly inform the author’s name and the origin of the work.

For acts of infringing on the right to allow public performances, Article 13 of Decree 131/2013/ND-CP stipulates administrative sanctions as follows:

“Article 13. Infringement of the right to allow the work to be performed in public

1. A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for performing the work directly in public without the permission of the copyright owner as prescribed.

2. Fines ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for performing works through sound programs, video recordings, or any technical means accessible to the public without the permission of the copyright owner as prescribed.

3. Remedies: Forcibly removing copies of audio or video recordings in violation of the acts specified in Clause 2 of this Article.”

The above is an administrative fine for individuals, if the organization commits a similar violation, the violating organization will be fined twice as much as the individual.

Above is the article “To perform works of art, do performers have to ask permission from the author? ” We hope this article is useful to you.

How is the symbol © understood?

Written by Editor VCD on 31 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration.

The icon © is a familiar symbol, not unfamiliar to everyday internet users, often used in the copyright notice at the bottom of every website. A symbol is a symbol © of the term copyright – “copyright”, which is usually associated with a specific object (e.g. a book, website,…) with the meaning that the object has been protected by copyright. To find out more information about the logo © and its use, Vietnam Copyright is clearly stated in the article below.

1. Origin of the symbol ©

The symbol © first appeared in Section 18 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1909. Initially, this symbol was used only for works of painting, graphics, and sculpture.

Before the advent of symbolism ©, people were conscious of copyright protection. People used symbols and other signs to assert the copyright or officialness of a work. Those symbols are used as a tool to restrict what a printer can publish, like a form of seal, indicating that a license has been granted and that the printed book is genuine. Symbols denoting the copyright status of the work were found in the Scottish almanac of the 1670s, books containing a print of the local coat of arms to confirm the book’s officialness. At the same time, people also use copyright notices to authenticate the work as original. However, it wasn’t until 1802 that copyright notices became mandatory under the Copyright Act of 1802 in the United States. The act requires publishers, if they want copyright protection, to include a copyright notice in their books, to publish a copyright notice on the title page or the page behind it. Initially, this copyright notice was quite long, specifically:

“Entered according to act of Congress, the _____ day of _____ 18 _____ (here insert the date when the same was deposited in the office) by A. B. of the State of _____ (here insert the author’s or proprietor’s name and the State in which he resides). ”

Later, the Copyright Act was amended in 1874 to allow the use of a shortened notice: “Copyright, 18__, by A. B.” However, the use of the above notice still causes a nuisance for works of painting, maps, graphics, and sculptures, therefore, by 1909, the symbol © was used to make it easy to show that the work was copyrighted and that it originally applied only to works of painting, graphics, and sculpture. By 1954, U.S. law had amended and allowed the logo © for any work to be published and copyrighted.

The symbol © is commonly used around the world through the provisions of the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). Since the 50s of the twentieth century, the United States has been under the influence of copyright becoming an international issue. However, the United States was not a party to the Bern convention, the leading copyright treaty at the time. The Berne Convention requires all countries to eliminate procedures for copyright protection, including notice and registration, but the United States at the time was not ready to do this. The Global Copyright Convention, formed in 1952 and entered into force in 1955, retains the position of requiring copyright procedures (Clause 1 of Article 3 of the Convention), including a copyright notice bearing a symbol © with the name of the copyright owner and the year of its first publication, and the United States has acceded to that convention.
2. How is the symbol © used today?

Currently, the use of symbols © is hardly mandatory, except in countries with specific regulations. However, it is still advisable to use copyright symbols © and notices to provide further evidence in a dispute that the alleged infringer should have known that the work was copyrighted. Besides, since the United States acceded to the Bern Convention in 1989, works published in the United States before March 1, 1989, are still subject to the copyright notice that is mandatory.

In Vietnam, the use of logos © and copyright notices is not mandatory. Vietnam is a party to the Bern Convention and Vietnamese law does not provide for the use of any symbol or copyright notice as a condition for the work to be protected.

Above is the article “How is the © symbol understood?” of Copyright Vietnam. Hope this article brings useful information to readers.

How to make audiobooks so as not to infringe on copyright

Written by Editor VCD on 31 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Written works.

Sách nói là một sản phẩm không còn xa lạ với những người yêu thích đọc sách vì những trải nghiệm khác biệt và sự tiện lợi của nó đối với người dùng. Thay vì mua sách giấy truyền thống, hay sách điện tử, những năm gần đây, những độc giả bận rộn có thể lựa chọn nghe sách nói trong khi làm những công việc rảnh tay. Có thể nói, sách nói đang chuyển sang một hướng đi mới và có tiềm năng tăng trưởng và phát triển nhanh chóng trong tương lai. Vậy, How to make audiobooks so as not to infringe on copyright

1. Audiobook is derivative work

Books contain knowledge, content, and ideas that the author wants to convey to others through writing and text, possibly in paper or electronic form. Books have a wide variety of content and are in many different genres. An audiobook is a form of presenting the content of a book in the form of audio, recorded in an audio recording. The busier modern life is, the fewer time people have to sit and read, therefore, the use of audiobooks is an economical and convenient choice.

The Law on Intellectual Property does not directly regulate books or audiobooks as an object of copyright protection, but stipulates in Article 14, Clause 1, Point A on written works, according to which “Literary, scientific works, textbooks, teaching courses and other works expressed in written languages or other characters” is one of the types of works that are allowed copyright protection.

In addition, according to Article 4, Clause 8 of the Law on Intellectual Property, derivative works are construed as follows:

“Derivative work means a work created on the basis of one or more existing works through translation from one language into another, adaptation, compilation, annotation, selection, arrangement, musical adaptation, and other adaptations.”

From the above grounds, audiobooks are derivative works from original book works. Therefore, if an individual or organization wants to record an audiobook, it must obtain the consent of the author, and the copyright owner of the original book and pay them royalties.

2. Is recording a book and posting it on the internet considered copyright infringement?

The right to make derivative works is one of the property rights of the author or copyright owner specified in Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property and the copyright owner is entitled to exclusively exercise or allow other organizations or individuals to exercise this right. Accordingly, organizations and individuals wishing to make derivative works must obtain the permission of the copyright owner and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the copyright owner.

According to Article 28, Clause 2 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the act of doing derivative works without the permission of the author, or copyright owner; or without paying royalties to the author, copyright owners are considered acts of copyright infringement due to such acts infringing on the rights of property under copyright specified in Article 20.

The act of making audiobooks spontaneously and posting them on the internet without asking permission and paying royalties to the author and copyright owner of the book is an act of copyright infringement. It should be clearly understood that not having to buy copyrighted original books means paying royalties to the author and being allowed to record audiobooks to communicate the work to the public. The right to make derivative works or the right to communicate the work to the public are independent rights and must be authorized by the author or copyright owner. The recording of the audiobook shall not be an infringement if the recording:

a reasonable reproduction of a part of the work by copying equipment and is only used by the individual for the purpose of personal scientific research or study and not for commercial purposes;

to provide non-commercial assistance to persons with disabilities;

a fair use copy of a work for illustration in lectures, publications, performances, sound recordings, video recordings, broadcasts for teaching purposes;

a copy of a reasonable quotation of the work without misleading the author to comment, introduce, or illustrate in author’s work; for writing newspapers, used in periodicals, broadcasts and documentaries.

According to Article 12 of Decree 131/2013/ND-CP, which specifies penalties for administrative breaches of copyright and associated rights, persons who violate the right to produce derivative works shall be dealt with as follows:

“1. A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of making derivative works without the permission of the copyright owner.

2. Remedies: Forcibly remove copies of infringing works in electronic form, in the network and digital environment for acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article. “

For the above reasons, if individuals and organizations want to use a book to make an audiobook, they must ask permission and pay royalties to the author and copyright owner of that book. Failure to do so may result in administrative penalties according to the above-mentioned fines.

Here is the article “How to use audiobooks so as not to infringe copyright?”. We hope this article was helpful to you.

Does making parody music infringe on copyright?

Written by Editor VCD on 30 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Musical work.

Making parody music has long been acknowledged and accepted by the general public through comedic skits and entertaining music videos. This parody exists in social life as a sort of folklore, similar to a joke, mostly oral tradition, that amuses people. However, is music composed of words and shared on social networking sites considered copyright infringement? Please refer to the article: Does making parody music infringe on copyright?

1. What are the parody music and the trend of making parody music?

Parody music is songs that have had their lyrics partially or completely rewritten on the music (melody) of the original works.

Parody music and the trend of making parody music have appeared for a long time, not only on social networks but also on television. Parody music is often used as highlights and laughing points in comedy skits on television and is also often used as a form of entertainment to attract viewers, creating laughter for the community. Many people enjoy funny parody music, and it quickly travels throughout the internet, generating a movement, and there are groups of people that specialize in creating and producing popular music videos. In particular, there are parody songs that become more popular and famous than original musical works.

In addition, parody music videos are spread, with many viewers bringing significant benefits to music makers, but the author does not receive the corresponding royalty. According to YouTube’s regulation, if the channel has 10,000 subscribers or more, the channel owner will get paid 2-3 USD (in the US or Europe) for every 1,000 views, or 0.3 – 0.5 USD (in Vietnam). Not only that, but channel owners also profit from advertising through affiliate marketing, and inserting links to products and services of a company on their videos or channel descriptions or can directly sign advertising contracts with businesses to introduce their product in videos.

Most people believe that parody music is just a commodity that provides entertainment and pleasure; nevertheless, various difficulties concerning copyright must be addressed.

2. Does making parody music infringe copyright?

A musical work is a type of work protected by copyright (specified at Point C, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property). Therefore, one of the moral rights of the author of a musical work is to protect the integrity of the work from being misrepresented by others; not to allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any way that harms the honor and reputation of the author (Article 19, Clause 4 of the Law on Intellectual Property). Thus, modifying, altering lyrics, and creating parody musical works without the permission of the author or copyright owner is an infringement of the right to protect the integrity of the work.

According to the provisions of Article 10 of Decree 31/2013/ND-CP Stipulating sanctions for administrative violations of copyright and related rights, acts of infringement of the right to protect the integrity of works may be administratively sanctioned as follows:

“1. A fine ranging from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of arbitrarily repairing or mutilating a work that harms the honor and reputation of the author.

2. A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of misrepresenting the work to the detriment of the honor and reputation of the author.

3. Remedies:

a/ To forcibly rectify publicly on the mass media false information for acts specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article;

b/ To forcibly remove copies of infringing works in electronic form, in the network environment and digitally or forcibly destroy infringing exhibits for acts specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. “

On the other hand, making new lyrics for a musical work is the act of making a derivative work. The right to make derivative works is also one of the property rights of authors and copyright owners (Article 20, Clause 1, Point A of the Law on Intellectual Property).

Therefore, when making music, making repairs, or writing new lyrics for musical works, the performer must obtain the written consent of the author, obtain the permission of the copyright owner, and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to the author and the copyright owner (Article 20 Clause 2 of the Law on Intellectual Property Tue).

Thus, any act of correcting or rewriting lyrics to make parody music is an infringement of copyright without the permission of the author and copyright owner. If there is a need to rewrite the lyrics, organizations, and individuals should contact the author and copyright owner to ask for permission and pay a commensurate royalty and remuneration to them.

Here is the article “Does making parody music infringe on copyright? “. We hope this article was helpful to you.

Copyright for theatrical works

Written by Editor VCD on 30 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Dramatic work.

Theatrical art is a form of performing arts with a long history. Theater art has been built and developed extremely plentifully in terms of the number of types and works. Exclusively in Vietnam, there are more than 30 types of traditional theater. Each theatrical work expresses the unique creativity of its creators, the result of a long period of collective labor, from developing the script and designing the stage to rehearsal and public performance. Therefore, to protect the achievement of creative people, emphasis must be paid to copyright protection for theater works. To clearly understand the copyright for theatrical works, Vietnam Copyright gives readers the basic content on this issue in the article.

1. Theatrical art and theatrical works

As well as cinematography, theatrical art is a kind of synthetic art. That is, theatre harmonious in its art many other art forms, including but not simultaneously including all forms of literature, music, dance, fine arts, and architecture, … The three basic creative subjects that make up a theatrical work are the playwright, the director, and the performers. The stage conveys the content and ideas of the work to the reader by actions (physical actions, psychological actions, language actions) through the expression (acting) of the performers. In the development journey, theater art has been enriched and perfected through the elements such as modern effects, sound, and lighting, bringing the ability to express impressive works to the public.

From the perspective of intellectual property, theatrical products are one of the types of works protected by copyright under the provisions of Article 14, Clause 1 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

According to Article 11 Clause 1 of Decree 22/2018/ND–CP: “Theatrical works specified at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property are works of performing arts, including: Cheo, tuong, cai luong, puppetry, drama, folk drama, body drama, musical, circus, comedy, variety, and other performing arts. “

Subjects considered authors of theatrical works include writers of theatrical scripts, authors of literary works, authors of musical works, stage directors, musical conductors, choreographers, stage designers, costumes, and those who perform other creative work for theatrical works. Particularly for performers, the performer’s right to the work is called the relevant right without being called copyright.

2. Copyright in theatrical works

According to Article 21, Clause 2, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 11, Article 29 of Decree 22/2018/ND – CP:

Case 1: In case the author is also the copyright owner, the performer is also the owner of the right to the performance, and the author and performer have all moral rights and property rights belonging to the copyright and related rights to the work. The content of rights is specified in Articles 19, 20, and 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property and is clearly stated in the case below.

Case 2: In case the author is not concurrently the copyright owner, the performer is not concurrently the owner of the rights to the performance, the author or performer has the following rights:

Writers of theatrical scripts are entitled to moral rights under copyright, which are the right to name the work or allow the transferee to transfer the property rights to name the work; the right to have a real name or pseudonym on the work; the right to name a real name or pseudonym when the work is published, use; the right to protect the integrity of the work from misrepresentation by others; Do not allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any way that harms the honor and reputation of the author.

Other authors of theatrical works, including authors of literary works, authors of musical works, stage directors, musical conductors, choreographers, stage designers, costumes, and those who perform other creative work for theatrical works are entitled to the right to have their real name or pseudonym on the work; be given a real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used.

Organizations and individuals that make financial investments and material-technical facilities for the construction of theatrical works shall be the owners of the rights to publish the works or allow others to publish the works, the right to make derivative works, the right to perform the works in public, the right to copy the work by any means or form, the right to distribute, or import for distribution to the public the original or the copies in tangible form through sale or other forms of transfer of ownership, broadcasting, communicate to the public the work by wired means, radio, an electronic information network or any other technical means unless otherwise agreed in writing. Such organizations or individuals are obliged to pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) under contracts with theatrical script authors and other authors of theatrical works.

Organizations and individuals investing in finance and material and technical foundations for the construction of theatrical works may agree with authors of theatrical works on the naming and modification of works.

When literary works or musical works in theatrical works are used independently, the authors or copyright owners of such literary or musical works shall be entitled to copyright independently of such literary or musical works unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Performers are entitled to moral rights under related rights, including the right to introduce names when performing, when releasing sound recordings, video recordings, or broadcasting performances; the right to protect the integrity of the performing image from others from misrepresentation; not to allow others to modify or mutilate in any way prejudicial to the honor and reputation of the performers.

Owners of rights to performances are entitled to property rights under related rights, including the right to fix their live performances on sound or video recordings; to copy their performance fixed on a sound recording, recorded by any means or form; to broadcast, and communicate to the public their unformed performance in a manner that the public can access, that is, entitled to carry out the dissemination of the unformed performance to the public by any technical means other than broadcasting; to distribute the works, to import the works for distribution to the public through sale or other forms of transfer of ownership of the original, the copy of the performance which is fixed in tangible form; to commercial lease to the public the original, copies of his performances were fixed in the recordings, recording, including after distribution by performers or with the permission of performers; to broadcast and communicate to the public a shaping of his performance, including providing the public with a shaping of the performance in a manner accessible to the public at the venue and time of their choosing.

Here is the article “Copyright for theatrical works“. We hope this article was helpful to you.

Copyright for cinematographic works

Written by Editor VCD on 30 August, 2023. Posted in Cinematographic work, Copyright Registration.

Cinema is a young art form that began to appear at the end of the 19th century but has an extremely rapid development rate, meeting the artistic tastes of people. After more than a century of development, cinema brings cultural and artistic values to people and becomes a strong industry with high economic value. Each cinematic work reflects the creativity of the people who make it, expressed in elements such as the content of the script, the performance of the actors, the installation of the director, the music, the setting, and the effects, etc. Each cinematic work is the result of a period of labor and creativity of a collective. So, how is that creative achievement protected? Vietnamese copyright would like to clarify the above issue through the article Copyright for cinematographic works below.

1. Cinematographic works

Cinema, the seventh art, is an art form of synthetic, characterized by the combination of a literary script, the acting of actors, and the use of techniques for recording images, sound, light to create a works, called the art of cinematography and editing.

Referring to cinematic works, everyone is familiar with the name “film”. Regarding the definition of a film, according to the provisions of Article 3, Clause 2 of the Law on Cinematography of Vietnam:

” “Film” means a cinematographic work whose content is represented by consecutive animation or images created by technical or technological devices; with or without audio and other effects according to the principle of cinematic language; recorded on medium, digital or other technical media and disseminated to viewers, including feature films, documentaries, scientific films, animated films and films that combine various types.

Films do not include video recordings for disseminating news on radio, television, and the internet; art shows, video games; recording products that show the activities of one or more people and describing actual events, situations, or programs.”

In addition, Article 12, Clause 1 of Decree 22/2018/ND – CP stipulates: “Cinematographic works and works created by similar methods specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property are works represented by animation combined or not combined with audio and other means according to the principle of cinematic language. Static images taken from a cinematographic work shall be regarded as part of that cinematographic work.”

2. Copyright protection for cinematographic works

According to Article 21, Clause 1 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 12 of Decree 22/2018/ND – CP:

Screenwriters and directors are entitled to a number of moral rights, which are the right to name the work or allow the recipient of the property rights to name the work; the right to have your real name or pseudonym on the work; the right to be named a real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used; the right to protect the integrity of the work from misrepresentation by others; not allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any way that harms the honor and reputation of the author.

Cinematographers, editors, music compositions, art design, sound design, lighting, visual effects, actors and other creative performers of cinematographic works are entitled to the right to have their real name or pseudonym on the work; to be declared a real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used.

Organizations and individuals that make financial investments and material-technical facilities for the production of cinematographic works shall be the owners of the rights: the right to publish works or allow others to publish works, the right to make derivative works, perform works in public, copy works by any means or forms, distribute, import for public distribution of originals, copies of works in tangible form through sale or other forms of transfer of ownership, broadcasting, communicating to the public works by wireline, radio, electronic information networks or any other technical means unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Organizations and individuals investing in finance and material and technical foundations for the production of cinematographic works may agree with screenwriters and directors on the naming and modification of works.

In case a script or musical work in a cinematographic work is used independently, the author or owner of the copyright of the script or musical work shall be entitled to copyright independently of such script or musical work, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Here is the article “Copyright for cinematographic works”. We hope this article was helpful to you.

Copyright for architectural works

Written by Editor VCD on 30 August, 2023. Posted in Architectural work, Copyright Registration.

Architectural art is a long-standing art form that is increasingly rich and diverse in modern life. Architectural works are not only construction designs, they not only bring practical use value but also bring artistic values to the community. Architectural works are formed from the process of intellectual labor, contain the author’s own creative values. Therefore, architectural works are also an object of copyright protection. The issue of copyright protection for architectural works will be clearly explained by Copyright Vietnam in the article below.

1. In what form are architectural works protected?

In a simple way, architectural works can be design drawings, design models, perspective space tables or construction works. The most commonly seen architectural works are the constructions that we observe every day. However, from a legal perspective, the specific definition of architectural work has not yet been clearly defined in legal documents.

In Article 3 of the Law on Architecture, the concepts of “architecture”, “architectural design” and “architectural work” are construed as follows:

“Architecture is the art and science, the technique of spatial organization, creating a sustainable living environment to meet the needs of people and society.”

“Architectural design is the making of an architectural plan, expressing architectural ideas, architectural technical solutions in planning, construction, interior and exterior design and landscape architecture design documents. .”

“Architectural work is one or a combination of works, work items built according to architectural ideas or architectural designs.”

According to the Intellectual Property Law, architectural works are one of the types of works protected by copyright (Article 14, Clause 1, point i). Decree 22/2018/ND-CP explained:

“Architectural works specified at Point i, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law are works of the architectural type, including:

a) Architectural design drawings of works or combinations of works, interiors or landscapes.

b) Architectural works.”

Thus, architectural works currently protected by copyright only include architectural design drawings of works or combinations of works, interiors, landscapes and architectural works.

2. Copyright protection for architectural works

Copyright in architectural works includes moral rights and property rights, which are clearly stated in Article 15 of Decree 22/2018/ND-CP and Articles 19 and 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property. In general, authors and copyright holders are subject to the following general rules:

Authors and copyright holders have the exclusive right to exercise or permit other organizations and individuals to exercise their transferable moral rights and property rights prescribed by law. Organizations and individuals, when exploiting and using one, several or all of the above rights, must obtain the permission of the copyright owner and pay royalties and other material benefits (if any) to copyright holders, except for the non-commercial exceptions specified in Clause 3, Article 20, Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33 of the Intellectual Property Law. In case of making a derivative work that affects the integrity of the work, the written consent of the author must be obtained.

Copyright owners do not have the right to prevent other organizations or individuals from performing the following acts:
- Copy the work solely to exercise other rights under this Law; temporary reproduction according to a technological process, during the operation of devices for transmission in a network between third parties through intermediaries or legal use of the work, without economic purpose stand-alone and copies are automatically deleted and cannot be restored;
- Subsequent distribution, import for distribution of the original, copy of the work has been performed or authorized by the copyright owner for distribution.

In which, the author who is also the copyright owner will enjoy all moral and property rights under the copyright. In case the author is not concurrently the copyright owner, he/she shall enjoy some moral rights and the copyright owner shall enjoy the property rights and the right to publish the work.

2.1. Case 1: The author is concurrently a copyright owner who enjoys moral rights and property rights.

Moral rights include:
- Name the work. However, the author has the right to transfer the right to use the right to name the work to the organization or individual receiving the transfer of the property right;
- Put your real name or pseudonym on the work; be given a real name or a pseudonym when the work is published or used;
- Publish the work or authorize others to publish the work;
- Protect the integrity of the work from being misrepresented by others; not allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any way that is prejudicial to the honor and reputation of the author.
Property rights include:
- Making derivative works;
- Performing a work to the public, directly or indirectly, through phonograms, video recordings or any other technical means in a place accessible to the public but not freely chosen by the public. time and part of the work;
- Copy directly or indirectly all or part of the work by any means or form;
- Distributing, importing for distribution to the public through sale or other form of transfer of ownership rights to originals or copies of works in tangible form.
- Broadcasting, communicating to the public by wire, radio, electronic information networks or any other technical means, including making the work available to the public in such a way that the public accessible at a place and time of their choosing;

2.2. Case 2: The author is not concurrently the copyright owner

Authors who are not concurrently copyright holders are entitled to the moral rights specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 of the Intellectual Property Law, specifically:

Moral rights include:
- Name the work. However, the author has the right to transfer the right to use the right to name the work to the organization or individual receiving the transfer of the property right;
- Put your real name or pseudonym on the work; be given a real name or a pseudonym when the work is published or used;
- Protect the integrity of the work from being misrepresented by others; not allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any way that is prejudicial to the honor and reputation of the author.
Copyright holders are entitled to the rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Article 20 of the Intellectual Property Law, specifically:
- Publish the work or authorize others to publish the work;
- Making derivative works;
- Performing a work to the public, directly or indirectly, through phonograms, video recordings or any other technical means in a place accessible to the public but not freely chosen by the public. time and part of the work;
- Copy directly or indirectly all or part of the work by any means or form;
- Distributing or importing for distribution to the public through sale or other form of ownership transfer to originals or copies of works in tangible form, except for the case specified at Point b, Clause 3 of this Article;
- Broadcasting, communicating to the public by wire, radio, electronic information networks or any other technical means, including making the work available to the public in such a way that the public accessible at a place and time of their choosing;

Above is the article “Copyright to architectural works”. We hope this article was useful to you.

Copyrights to lectures, speeches and other speeches

Written by Editor VCD on 29 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Lectures, addresses and other speeches.

Lectures, speeches and other speeches are objects that often appear in life, extremely familiar to everyone. Lectures, speeches and other speeches are presented in language, communicated by means of speech, and formed through the speaker’s intellectual thinking process to convey specific content to the recipient. Therefore, lectures, speeches and other speeches are subject to intellectual property protection and what rights the author has over these objects, here is our presentation “Copyrights to lectures speeches and other speeches”

1. What are lectures, speeches and other speeches?

According to Section 6 (2) of Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP, Lectures, speeches and other speeches specified at Section 14 (1) (b) of the Intellectual Property Law are works expressed in spoken language and must be shaped in a certain physical form.

Lecture is understood as a presentation that uses pedagogical methods and skills to provide knowledge about a specific issue that is communicated directly to the audience. The lecture is expressed in a certain material form by any form of shaping.

Speeches are understood as formal speeches or presentations in a specific context on the occasion of a special event being held.

Other speeches are spoken works of a similar nature to the above-mentioned works, including sermons.

Lectures, speeches and other speeches are works expressed in spoken language and must be fixed in some physical form, such as being recorded and circulated in writing.

2. Conditions for copyright protection for lectures, speeches and other speeches

According to the Intellectual Property Law, in order for lectures, speeches and other speeches to be protected by copyright, the following conditions must be met:

The first is the result of mental creative activity. Accordingly, these works must be the result of intellectual labor, thought, discovery, creation, and reflection of the creator’s thoughts and feelings.

Second, be creative (original). According to Section 4 (3) of the Intellectual Property Law, a protected work must be directly created by the author with his or her own intellectual labor, without copying from another person’s work. Therefore, creativity here requires the work to be created by the author himself, with its own characteristics.

Third, the work must be expressed in a certain form. Lectures, speeches and other speeches are works expressed in spoken language and must be fixed in a certain material form. It can be in writing or files, tapes, audio recordings, video recordings, etc. In case lectures, speeches and other speeches are not presented in any physical form, they will not be recognized and protected by law.

3. Copyright to lectures, speeches and speeches

In cases where the author himself performs the fixing of lectures, speeches and other speeches in the form of audio recordings or video recordings, the author is entitled to copyright over the lectures, speeches, and speeches. other, specifically personal and property rights specified in Articles 19 and 20 of the Intellectual Property Law:

Moral rights
- Name lectures, speeches and talks;
- Use your real name or pseudonym when lectures, speeches and talks are published or used;
- Publish, disseminate or let others publish or disseminate their lectures, speeches and speeches;

Protect the integrity of your lectures, speeches, speeches, do not allow others to modify, mutilate or distort in any way to damage your honor and reputation.

Property rights
- To enjoy royalties – the amount of money that an organization or individual exploiting and using a work pays the author when the work is exploited and used;
- To receive remuneration when the work is used;
- To enjoy material benefits from allowing others to use the work in the form of publication, reproduction, display, exhibition, performance, radio, television, sound recording, video recording, photography; translation, adaptation, adaptation, adaptation, rental and any other form of transmission; receive an award for the work of which he is the author.

Above is the article “Copyrights to Lectures, Speeches and Other Speeches“. We hope this article was useful to you.

Sanctioning of administrative violations for the acts of copyright infringement (Part 2)

Written by Editor VCD on 29 August, 2023. Posted in Copyright Registration, Copyright-related rights.

In part 1, we presented the fine level for several copyright infringement acts specified in Decree 131. In part 2, we continue to present the fine bracket, the prescriptive time limits for imposing penalties for administrative violations, and the competence to sanction administrative violations.

2. Fine bracket

According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 2 of Decree 131, the maximum fine level in the domain of copyright and related rights for individuals will be VND 250,000,000, and for organizations will be VND 500,000,000.

3. Prescriptive time limits for imposing penalties for administrative violations

In-progress administrative violations and completed administrative violations against regulations on copyright and related rights:
- In-progress administrative violation against regulations on copyright and related rights is a persistent violation that has been occurring at the time when it is discovered and penalized by the competent authority or competent person and has been directly infringing upon state management order (“In-progress administrative violation”).
- Completed administrative violation against regulations on copyright and related rights is a violation which is committed on one or more occasions and grounds and information are proving that such violation had been completed before the competent authority or competent person discovered such violation (“Completed administrative violation”).

The prescriptive time limit for imposition of a penalty for an administrative violation against regulations on copyright and related rights shall be 02 years.

The dates which are used to determine the prescriptive time limits for imposing penalties for administrative violations against regulations on copyright and related rights are as follows:
- For an in-progress administrative violation, the prescriptive time limit begins from the date on which the competent law enforcement officer detects a such violation.
- For a completed administrative violation, the prescriptive time limit begins from the date on which that violation terminates.
- For a case where a penalty is imposed for an administrative violation committed by an organization or individual which is transferred by the competent person making the administrative violation record, the prescriptive time limit for imposition of a penalty is 2 years. The prescriptive time limit is calculated in the same as an in-progress administrative violation or a completed administrative violation, to the date on which the penalty imposition decision is issued.

Within the time limits, if a violating person deliberately evades or militates against penalty imposition by a competent authority, the time limits shall be reset, starting from the time of abandonment of acts of evading or militating against penalty imposition.

4. Competence to sanction administrative violations

The competence to sanction administrative violations is specified in detail in Articles 36 to 40d of Decree 131.

To determine whether the person has the authority to sanction administrative violations, the following criteria need to be identified: i) Provisions on violations; ii) The maximum level of the fine bracket; iii) Remedial measures. Then, compare with the regulations on the competence to sanction administrative violations to determine who has the competence to sanction administrative violations. The person with sanctioning competence is the person who has the right to sanction the type of violation, to impose a fine greater than or equal to the maximum level of the fine bracket, and to apply remedial measures.

For example, For acts of publishing a work without the permission of the copyright owner, a fine of between VND 5,000,000 and 10,000,000 shall be imposed and the following remedial measures shall be applied: Forced public rectification on the mass media.

First, three criteria need to be identified: i) This act is specified in Article 11 of Decree 131; ii) The maximum fine for individuals is VND 10,000,000 and for organizations is VND 20,000,000; iii) Remedial measures are specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 28 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and Article 3 of Decree No 131.

Thus, the person with sanctioning competence for this act is the person who has the right to sanction the violation specified in Article 11, to impose a fine of VND 10,000,000 on individuals and VND 20,000,000 on organizations, and to apply remedial measures.

People with sanctioning competence, in this case, include: Chairpersons of the district-level People’s Committees; Chairpersons of the provincial People’s Committees; Chief Inspectors of the provincial Departments, Head of the specialized inspection team at the department level, Ministerial Chief Inspector of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Chief Inspector of Department, Head of the specialized inspection team at the department level, Ministerial Chief Inspector of Information and Communications, Director General of Vietnam Maritime Administration, Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Director General of Authority of Radio Frequency Management, Director General of Vietnam Telecommunications Authority, Director General of Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, Director General of Agency of Press and Director General of Authority of Publication, Printing, and Distribution.

5. 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 “Sanctioning of administrative violations for the acts of copyright infringement (Part 2)“. We hope this article is useful to you.