The evolution of music parallels the evolution of society; it is a vehicle for the precise expression of human needs, desires, and emotions. The legislation states that music products are also copyright protected, but for more information on the particular protection rules, please see the VCD article below.
1. Understand what a musical work is?
Musical works are one of the subjects protected by copyright and are specified in Point d Clause 1 Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property.
The definition of musical works is specified in Article 10 of the Government’s Decree No. 22/2018 dated February 23, 2018, detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the 2005 IP Law amended and supplemented in 2009.
Specifically: “A musical work specified in Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property is a work expressed in the form of musical notes in a sheet or other musical characters or shaped on a sound recording, video recording with or without lyrics, it doesn’t depend on whether or not to perform.”
However, since the work was produced and expressed in a specific material form, as stated in Article 6 of the Law on Intellectual Property, copyright will be protected. In other words, once a product is produced and its existence can be verified, it will now be covered by copyright. The same holds for musical compositions; if the composer has not yet finished composing the melody in his or her thoughts, the composition is not protected. The authorship of that musical work won’t become apparent until the artist expresses the work in a specific material form (writing melodies, notes, or expressions on a computer, for example).
2. Copyright protection for musical works
The State’s adoption of legal standards that establish a legal foundation for the establishment, recognition, and protection of legitimate rights and interests for organizations and individuals about musical works produced by them can be understood as copyright protection for musical works.
In particular, it covers the topics of creating and utilizing musical work copyright, managing, using, and operating musical work copyright, and defending musical work copyright from infringements.
3. Conditions for musical works to be protected by copyright
Conditions for musical works for copyright protection
- The sort of work must be molded from a specific material.
Only when the song is expressed as a musical note, written on paper, or entered into a computer is the song eligible for copyright protection. If the melody is only formed in the musician’s head, it is not a protected musical work.
- The content doesn’t violate societal morality or public order, and it doesn’t compromise national security or defense.
As stated in Clause 1 of Article 8 of the Law on Intellectual Property, “Recognition and protection of intellectual property rights of organizations and individuals on the basis of ensuring the harmonization of the interests of intellectual property rights holders with public interests; do not protect intellectual property objects that are contrary to social morality, public order, or harm to the environment” is the core of the State’s intellectual property policy.
Conditions of authors whose musical works are protected in Vietnam
- The author’s work is a Vietnamese citizen;
- The work is owned by Vietnamese citizens, legal entities, and organizations;
- Works of foreigners and foreign legal entities are created and expressed in certain material forms in Vietnam;
- Works of foreigners and foreign legal entities were first published and disseminated in Vietnam;
- Works of foreigners and foreign legal entities are protected in Vietnam under international treaties that Vietnam has signed or acceded to.
Therefore, when the aforementioned requirements are satisfied and the musical work is expressed in a specific material shape, authorship of the musical work becomes evident.
In reality, instances of plagiarism or the copying of lyrics are relatively common, but the author rarely takes action because they can’t demonstrate that they are the rightful owners of the song. Because of this, copyright registration is one of the best methods to safeguard work, provides reliable justification for dealing with infringers, and gives the owner a benefit in cases of unpaid royalties to organizations and unauthorized use of the author’s musical work.
Above is the article “Copyright protection for musical works“. We hope this article is useful to you.
Respect
