In reality, it is not difficult to come across coincidences in the names of different works, such as two poems have the same name “Country” by author Nguyen Khoa Diem and author Nguyen Dinh Thi; the song “Never” performed by singer Thu Phuong and another song also named “Never” performed by singer Trung Quan; or the case of the same name of beauty contests such as Miss Peace Vietnam between Sen Vang company and Minh Khang Vietnam company … The naming of the work, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has certain effects on the reputation of the author and the work. From the perspective of intellectual property law, whether works with the same name as other works are protected by copyright, or in other words, whether the same name is considered copyright infringement, we would like to explain in this article.
1. Regulations of Vietnamese law from the perspective of copyright on the protection of work names
According to Article 19, Clause 1 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the author has the right to name the work and has the right to transfer the right to use the right to name the work to the organization or individual receiving the transfer of property rights. This right does not apply to works translated from one language to another (Article 20 Clause 1 of Decree 22/2018/ND-CP), that is, for translated works, the name of the work must be the name translated directly from the name of the work in a foreign language.
According to Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property, literary, artistic, and scientific works protected by copyright include:
- Literary and scientific works, textbooks, syllabuses, and other works expressed in written or other character forms;
- Lectures, speeches, and other speeches;
- Pressworks;
- Musical works;
- Theatrical works;
- Cinematographic works and works created by the same method (hereinafter collectively referred to as cinematic works);
- Works of visual art, works of applied art;
- Photographic works;
- Architectural works;
- Graphics, diagrams, maps, and drawings related to topography, architecture, and scientific works;
- Literary works, folk art;
- Computer programs, data collection;
In addition, based on the origin of the work, the original work and the derivative work are protected by copyright, provided that the creation of the derivative work does not prejudice the copyright of the work used as a derivative work.
Thus, according to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law mentioned above, the name of the work is not a separate type that is protected by copyright independently. The law only provides overall protection for the entire work without protecting the name of the work. Copyright does not exclusively protect all or part of the name of the work, which means that when a work is protected by copyright, the name of the work is not only used by the author, the copyright owner. The name of the work does not have to be used by the author, who owns the exclusive copyright, but someone else can take the name of his work to match or have words and components similar to that name.
In essence, copyright only protects the form of expression of the work without protecting the content of creative ideas conveyed in the work. There are cases where many works with similar ideas and contents but with different expressions are still considered separate and protected works. In case authors compose and implement their ideas on the same topic, it is possible to name the same name and this is not an infringement of copyright.
2. Solutions for the situation of the works having the same name
From the perspective of copyright protection, the name of the work is not uncommon and is not considered an infringement of copyright. However, in practice, the name of the work in some cases also creates a certain impact on the public. In cases where the name of the work overlaps, causing effects on the economic interests as well as the reputation of the author, the copyright and the work owner, the author and copyright owner should take more appropriate measures to protect their rights.
The duplication of Vietnamese names between the two beauty contests “Miss Peace Vietnam” between Sen Vang Company (the investor of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022 -Miss Grand Vietnam 2022) and Minh Khang Company (the investor of Miss Peace Vietnam 2022) is an example that although the same name is not infringed copyright, however, it still easily confuses the public, affecting the reputation and economic interests of copyright owners. In this case, to protect their legitimate rights and interests, in addition to copyright registration, the organizers may consider carrying out procedures for trademark protection registration for the name of the contest to hold the exclusive right to exploit, use names and prohibit other individuals and organizations from using names that coincide with their own.
Therefore, to avoid duplication of names causing nuisances later, before registering the copyright, authors, and owners should check and carefully consider the name of the work. In the case of an author, the copyright owner who wants to exclusively use the name, the author, and the copyright owner can carry out the procedure for trademark protection registration for that name simultaneously with the registration of copyright.
Above is the article “Can a work whose name is the same as another work be protected?”.We hope this article is helpful to you.
Best regards.
