The right to bequeath and inheritance are fundamental rights of citizens protected by law. People have the right to decide whether to leave their assets after death and the right to inherit assets from the deceased. Inherited assets can include types of assets such as cash and physical assets. (such as houses, land, vehicles), valuable documents (such as share certificates, contracts, property documents), intellectual property rights (such as copyrights, trademarks, patents) institutions), and other types of assets. So, how does the law regulate music copyright inheritance when a musician passes away? Please follow VCD’s article below.
1. What is music copyright inheritance?
According to the provisions of Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law 2005, musical works are one of the types of artistic works protected by copyright. Referring to Clause 4, Article 6 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP, “Musical works specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law are works expressed as musical notes in a musical score. or other musical characters regardless of performance or non-performance.”
Musical works are protected by copyright from the moment the work is created in a recordable form in physical form, which can be on paper, typewritten, or another form of recording. Thus, when the musician only thinks about the lyrics in his head but has not yet expressed them in physical form, the music is not protected by copyright.
Music copyright is understood as the author’s right to a work expressed in the form of notes in music or other musical characters or shaped on audio or video recordings with or without lyrics, without lyrics. depends on performance or non-performance from the moment the author creates the work.
Therefore, music copyright inheritance transfers rights related to musical works from the deceased musician (author) to the legal heir. This process is governed by the Intellectual Property Law and inheritance regulations in the Civil Code. When inheriting a music copyright, the heir will receive property rights and some moral rights related to that musical work.
2. Legal provisions on music copyright inheritance when the musician passes away
When a musician passes away, the copyright of the songs composed by that musician will be inherited according to the law.
- Inheritance according to will: If the musician has a will, the copyright will be transferred according to the content of the will. A will must comply with the law regarding form and content to be legally effective.
- Inheritance according to law: If the musician does not leave a will or the will is not legal, the copyright will be inherited according to the provisions of the law on inheritance. According to the Vietnamese Civil Code, heirs at law include:
- First line of inheritance: spouse, biological father, biological mother, adoptive father, adoptive mother, biological children, adopted children of the deceased.
- Second line of inheritance: paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents, siblings of the deceased, grandchildren of whom the deceased is a grandfather, grandmother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother.
- Third line of inheritance: paternal great-grandfather, maternal great-grandfather of the deceased, maternal uncle, paternal uncle, paternal uncle, maternal aunt, paternal aunt of the deceased; nephew whose deceased is a paternal uncle, maternal uncle, paternal uncle, maternal aunt, maternal aunt; great-grandchildren whose deceased is paternal and maternal great-grandparents.
According to Article 40 of the Intellectual Property Law 2005, the provisions on copyright inheritance are as follows: Copyright owners are organizations and individuals who inherit copyright rights according to the provisions of the law on inheritance. owner of the rights specified in Article 20 and Clause 3, Article 19 of this Law.
– Specifically, Article 19 of the 2005 Intellectual Property Law, amended by Clause 5, Article 1 of the 2022 Amended Intellectual Property Law (Effective from January 1, 2023), stipulates moral rights as follows:
Personal rights include:
1. Name the work.
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 property rights specified in Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law;
2. Put your real name or pseudonym on the work; be given your real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used;
3. Publish the work or allow others to publish the work;
4. Protect the integrity of the work to prevent others from distorting it; Do not allow others to modify or mutilate the work in any form that harms the author’s honor and reputation.
– According to Article 20 of the 2005 Intellectual Property Law, amended by Clause 5, Article 1 of the 2022 Amended Intellectual Property Law (Effective from January 1, 2023), property rights are stipulated as follows:
1. Property rights include:
a) Making derivative works;
b) Perform the work to the public directly or indirectly through audio or video recordings or any other technical means at a location that is accessible to the public but that the public cannot freely choose. choose the time and each part of the work;
…
3. Copyright owners do not have the right to prohibit other organizations or individuals from performing the following acts:
a) Copy works only to exercise other rights as prescribed by this Law; Temporary copying 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 independent and the copy is automatically deleted, there is no possibility of recovery;
b) Subsequent distribution or import for distribution of originals or copies of works that have been distributed or authorized by the copyright owner.
Therefore, from the above regulations, the heirs will inherit the following copyright rights:
+ Moral rights: Publish the work or allow others to publish the work; (The remaining rights are moral rights attached to the author so they cannot be inherited).
+ Property rights as prescribed above.
Normally, the copyright will be transferred to the heirs according to the musician’s will or according to the provisions of estate law. The heir can be someone from the musician’s family, such as a child, spouse, or close friend. Musicians can sometimes appoint an attorney to manage their work and copyrights after their death. Copyright can also be transferred or sold in cases where the musician has made a will or agreement before his death. In these cases, the purchaser or transferee becomes the copyright owner.
– However, the heir may only exercise the inherited copyright rights during the remaining copyright protection period. According to Article 27 of the Intellectual Property Law 2005, the copyright protection term (amended by Clause 8, Article 1 of the 2009 Intellectual Property Law, effective from January 1, 2010) is specified. determined as follows:
Term of copyright protection
1. Personal rights specified in Clauses 1, 2, and 4, Article 19 of this Law are protected indefinitely.
2. Personal rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19, and property rights specified in Article 20 of this Law have the following protection period:
….
b) Works other than those specified in Point a of this Clause have a term of protection that is the entire life of the author and fifty years following the year of the author’s death; In case a work has a co-author, the term of protection ends in the fiftieth year after the year the last co-author dies;
c) The protection term specified in Points a and b of this Clause ends at 24:00 on December 31 of the year the copyright protection term expires.
Therefore, according to the above regulations, the following elements will be protected forever, including:
+ Name of the work;
+ Author’s real name or pen name;
+ The integrity of the work;
In addition to the above factors, the work will have a limited protection period for musical works of 50 years following the year of the author’s death. In conclusion, VCD finds that music copyright inheritance is an important legal issue to ensure the rights of authors and heirs. Compliance with legal regulations on inheritance helps protect and develop cultural and artistic values while ensuring fairness and transparency in the use and exploitation of music
