Currently, intellectual property created by people through thinking and creative activities in social life is increasing, accompanied by people using that intellectual product without permission. Author’s permission leads to copyright infringement. Therefore, to protect copyright, we need to identify who is the copyright owner. So please follow VCD’s article below on this issue.
1. What is the copyright owner?
The owner is the subject with the right to possess, use, and dispose of an asset or a block of assets recognized by law.
Copyright is the right of organizations and individuals to works they create or own. A copyright owner is an organization or individual that holds one, several, or all of the property rights and the right to publish a work. The original copyright owner is the author, the person who possesses copyright according to law based on the creation of the work, however, the copyright owner may or may not be the author at the same time. author. Accordingly, the copyright owner is the copyright holder or the organization or individual to whom this subject transfers one, some, or all of the property rights and the right to publish the work.
Article 13 of the Intellectual Property Law stipulates as follows:
Organizations and individuals whose works are protected by copyright include the person directly creating the work and the copyright owner specified in Articles 37 to 42 of this Law. Authors, owners Copyright holders specified in Clause 1 of this Article include Vietnamese organizations and individuals; Foreign organizations and individuals whose works are published for the first time in Vietnam but have not been published in any other country or are published simultaneously in Vietnam within thirty days from the date of the work that is published for the first time in another country; Foreign organizations and individuals whose works are protected in Vietnam under international copyright treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.
According to this regulation, organizations and individuals whose works are protected by copyright include: the person directly creating the work and the copyright owner. In addition, it encourages human thinking and creativity to increasingly develop and create more types of works while ensuring creative freedom. Copyright laws of all countries are for authors and rights owners. author of rights that, when exploited, will bring economic benefits that offset creative investment costs.
2. Subjects of copyright owners
According to the provisions from Article 36 to Article 42 in Chapter III on Owners of copyright and related rights, the Intellectual Property Law stipulates that copyright owners include:
2.1. The owner of the copyright is the author
An author is a person who directly creates part or all of a literary, artistic, and scientific work. According to the provisions of Article 37 of the Intellectual Property Law, it is clearly stated that subjects are individuals and organizations that use their time, finance, physical and technical facilities to create works. This is the case where the subject is both the author who directly created the work and also the subject who contributed financially and other facilities throughout the process before, during, and after the completion of the work. Therefore, the subject is both the author and the copyright owner of the work. The copyright owner, the author, has the right to protect the integrity of the work and not allow others to modify, mutilate, or distort the work in any form that is harmful to the honor and reputation of the author. author.
2.2. Copyright owners are co-authors
Co-authors are people who directly create literary, artistic, and scientific works together. Co-authors can be indivisible co-authors and divisible co-authors. Co-authorship cannot be divided when it cannot be determined which part of the work each co-author created. Co-authorship can be divided when each co-author creates a part of the work and that part can be used independently or each author creates a part throughout the work.
Thus, compared with the provisions in Article 38 of the Intellectual Property Law, it shows that co-authors use their time, finances, and physical and technical facilities to jointly create works that share the same human rights. body and property rights of the author who creates the work or project. In this case, if there is a separate part that can be separated for independent use without harming the shares of other co-authors, then there are rights to that separate part.
2.3. The copyright owner is the organization or individual that assigns tasks to the author or cooperates with the author
The author directly creates the work either due to an assignment or under a contract with other entities. According to the provisions of Article 39 of the Intellectual Property Law, the organization assigning tasks to the author or the organization or individual entering into a contract with the author who creates the work is the owner of the work with property rights and property rights. the right to publish or allow others to publish the work by the provisions of this Law.
The basis for this right is not based on the original possession of copyright but based on law. Based on financial investment and other physical conditions for work creation activities, these subjects are the ones who “place orders” for the author to create works.
For an organization that assigns a task to a person or group of people to perform, that organization is the owner of the work and has property rights and the right to publish and let others publish the work. Rights related to the author’s identity still belong to the author and are respected throughout the process of exploiting and using the work. For individuals who agree to let others create works to meet their physical or spiritual needs. In both cases where an organization assigns a task or an individual establishes a contract to create intellectual property, in the contract the two parties need to agree on the scope of rights of the assigning party to the work. The author’s direct creative labor crystallized in the work has been compensated materially by these individuals and organizations before, during, and even after the end of the creative process. Therefore, it is also reasonable to let these subjects hold the economic rights to exploit and use the work after completion to recover previous investment capital.
2.4. The owner of the copyright is the heir
According to the provisions of the Civil Code, inheritance is understood as the transfer of assets of a deceased person to the living person, the assets left behind are called inheritance. Inheritance can be divided according to the will or if the deceased does not leave a will, the inheritance will be divided according to law. The person leaving a legacy is an individual who has the right to make a will to dispose of his or her assets; Leave your property to your heirs according to the law. Therefore, there are two types of heirs: heirs by law and heirs by will.
Thus, based on Article 40 of the current Intellectual Property Law, organizations and individuals that inherit copyright according to the provisions of the law on inheritance are the owners with property rights, the right to publish, or permission to publish the work.
2.5. The copyright owner is the person to whom the rights are transferred
The copyright owner is the person who is entitled to one, several, or all of the property and personal rights based on contractual agreements (Article 41 of the Intellectual Property Law).
The basis for this right is based on the law on the transfer of copyright ownership. Copyright can be transferred to organizations and individuals through assignment and transfer of use rights. Transfer of copyright is understood as the transfer of ownership of his or her rights by the copyright owner according to the provisions of law. Transferring the right to use copyright is understood as the copyright owner allowing another organization or individual to use one, some, or all of his or her rights for a limited period by the provisions of law. The organization or individual that transfers one, some, or all of the property rights and the right to publish the work or to another person to publish the work according to the agreement in the contract is the copyright owner.
2.6. The owner of the copyright is the State
The basis for the state’s copyright ownership is based on the legal basis in Article 42 and Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 85/2011/ND-CP:
First, anonymous works except in the cases specified in Article 41 of the Intellectual Property Law. Anonymous works are managed by organizations and individuals That person is allowed to transfer the rights to an anonymous work to another organization or individual and receive remuneration from the transfer of that right, and the organization or individual receiving the transfer of the right shall enjoy the owner’s rights until the name is transferred. The author’s personality is determined.
Second, the work is still within the term of protection but the copyright owner dies and has no heirs, the heir refuses to receive the inheritance or is not entitled to the inheritance.
Finally, the copyright owner of the work transfers ownership to the state. When individuals or organizations use state-owned works in this case, they are obliged to ask for permission to use; pay royalties, remunerations, other material rights, and benefits; and submit a copy of the work within thirty days from the date of dissemination and circulation. Individuals and organizations perform the above obligations at the Copyright Office.
Based on the analysis of the objects of the copyright owner as well as the characteristics of the work, it can be seen that any intellectual products in the fields of literature, art, and science expressed in A certain material form is subject to copyright protection. However, to be protected, those works must also comply with certain protection principles.
Above is the article: Who are the copyright owners? I hope this article will help you.
