Copyright for anonymous works is a special case in the field of copyright, protecting works whose author cannot be identified upon publication. The protection afforded to these works has been addressed in the copyright jurisprudence throughout its various stages. One of the first questions arises is who owns the copyright of an anonymous work.
1. What is an anonymous work?
The recognition of copyright for anonymous works begins with the introduction of a concept, based on which the copyright holder and the characteristics of the protection of this type of work are determined. In general, Vietnamese law has considered anonymous works to be an indispensable part of the general regulations on copyright. The following periods all repeat the regulations of the previous period and record some small changes, creating a difference but not much.
Currently, based on the provisions of Clause 2, Article 3 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP detailing several articles and measures to enforce intellectual property law on copyright and related rights, it is noted:
“An anonymous work is a work that does not or does not have the author’s name (birth name or pen name) on the work when published.”
This can be considered the official concept of current law on anonymous works.
2. Who will own the anonymous work?
According to the provisions of Article 42 of the Intellectual Property Law, the copyright owner is the State for works:
- Anonymous works, unless an individual or organization is already managing that work;
- The work is still under protection but the copyright owner does not exist (the copyright owner dies without an heir, the heir refuses to receive the inheritance or is not entitled to the inheritance);
- The work is transferred ownership by the State from the copyright owner.
Therefore, the State will become the copyright owner of an anonymous work if no individual or organization is managing that work.
However, when the protection period for anonymous works ends according to the provisions of Article 27 of the Intellectual Property Law, the copyright for the above anonymous works will belong to the public according to Article 43 of the Intellectual Property Law intellectual property.
“1. Works that have ended their term of protection as prescribed in Article 27 of this Law belong to the public.”
Meanwhile, the copyright owner of an anonymous work is the State until the anonymous work expires. After the term of protection expires, the copyright of the anonymous work will belong to the public according to the provisions of the law.
Above is the article “Who owns the copyright of anonymous works?”. We hope this article is useful to you.
