Currently, the transfer of copyright and related rights between individuals and organizations is very common. Copyright and copyright – related rights are subject to protection under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law. Therefore, in order to use and protect these rights, it is necessary to obtain the permission of the right holder through the transfer of the right to use copyright and related rights. Current law also has specific provisions on copyright and related rights transfer contracts as follows:
1. Overview of copyright and related rights transfer contracts
Section 4 (2) of the Intellectual Property Law 2005 (amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, Intellectual Property Law for short) stipulates that copyright is “the right of an organization or individual to a work created by themselves”. According to Section 4 (3) of the Intellectual Property Law, copyright-related rights (related rights) are “the rights of organizations and individuals to performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, coded program-carrying satellite signals”.
Accordingly, the owner of copyright and related rights is the person who enjoys the moral and property rights as prescribed by law. The owner may use by himself or let others use it; they also have the right to dispose of and transfer ownership of such copyright and related rights to others. Owners may dispose of certain rights in their possession by giving up, inheriting or transferring those rights to others through a contract.
Section 45 (1) of the Law on Intellectual Property generally provides for the assignment of copyright and related rights as follows: “The assignment of copyright and related rights is the act of copyright or related rights holders. transfer ownership of the rights specified in Section 19 (3), Section 20, Section 29 (3), Section 30 and Section 31 of this Law to other organizations or individuals under a contract or as prescribed by law. related”.
Thus, it can be understood that a contract for the assignment of copyright and related rights is a document expressing the agreement and unification of the will of the assignor and the assignee. Accordingly, the assignor being the owner of copyright or related rights transfers the ownership of one or several of his/her personal rights and property rights to the assignee being an individual or organization in the form of: scope, duration … are determined by the two parties in the contract.
2. Legal characteristics of copyright and related rights assignment contracts
The contract for the right to franchise copyright and related rights is a special civil contract. In addition to the characteristics of civil contracts such as nature of many legal cases, consent; With or without compensation, a copyright assignment contract also has the following specific characteristics:
– The contract for the assignment of copyright and related rights has the subject matter of personal rights and property rights. If the object of a civil contract can only be property or work, the object of a contract for the assignment of copyright and related rights also has the subject of moral rights. Usually, this moral right is a moral right attached to property and is transferable under the law. However, moral rights are a very limited subject and only certain moral rights prescribed by law can become the subject of this contract.
– The contract for the transfer of related rights is a contract for the transfer of ownership: Because the subject matter of the contract is intangible powers, the “transfer” here represents the transfer of property rights legal. The assignee will acquire ownership of the subject matter of the contract from one of the following three times: (1) the effective date of the contract; (2) the time when the parties agree otherwise; (3) other provisions of the law. Also from the time of such assignment, the assignor shall cease to be the owner of the transferred rights. Therefore, after the assignment, the assignor has no right to use and dispose of those rights.
3. Contents of contract for assignment of copyright and related rights
Section 46 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the contract on assignment of copyright and related rights is as follows:
1. A contract for assignment of copyright and related rights must be made in writing, including the following principal contents:
a) Full name and address of the assignor and assignee;
b) Grounds for the transfer;
c) Price, payment method;
d) Rights and obligations of the parties;
dd) Liability for breach of contract.
2. The performance, modification, termination or cancellation of contracts on assignment of copyrights and related rights shall comply with the provisions of the Civil Code.
The contract for the assignment of copyright and related rights also has the characteristics of a civil contract, including names and addresses of two parties; transfer grounds; prices, payment methods; rights and obligations of the parties and responsibilities when breach of contract occurs. Therefore, the performance, modification, termination and cancellation of the contract on assignment of copyright and related rights shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code. It should be noted that the price of art in general and the value of works in particular cannot be quantified as material, but depends on subjective and objective factors, the ability to perceive and evaluate the parties… to provide a reasonable figure in the contract.
In addition, the Intellectual Property Law also has a new provision on the case of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with co-owners, “the transfer must be subject to the agreement of the all co-owners; In case there is a co-owner, but the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast has separate parts that can be separated for independent use, the copyright owner, the related rights holders have the right to assign their respective copyrights and related rights to other organizations and individuals” (Section 45 (3)). In addition, in case an organization or individual is managing anonymous works, they are still entitled to transfer the rights to anonymous works to other organizations and individuals and receive remuneration from such right assignment. However, organizations and individuals that receive this right are only entitled to the rights of the owner until the identity of the author is identified.
Above is the article: “Law on transfer of copyright and related rights contracts”. Hope the article will be helpful to you.
