Are musical works eligible for copyright protection in Vietnam? If there are acts of infringing upon the right to distribute musical works to the public, what is the fine for that?
What is copyright?
Caution to Article 18 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005 of Vietnam on copyright:
Copyright in works Companies Registry in this Law shall comprise moral rights and economic rights.
Are musical works eligible for copyright protection in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Clause 5 Article 1 of amendments and supplements of a number of articles of the law on intellectual property 2009 of Vietnam on types of works eligible for copyright protection:
“1. Literary, artistic and scientific works eligible for copyright protection include:
a/ Literary and scientific works, textbooks, teaching courses and other works expressed in written languages or other characters:
b/ Lectures, addresses and other sermons;
c/ Press works;
d/ Musical works;
e/ Dramatic works;
f/ Cinematographic works and works created by a process analogous to cinematography (below collectively referred to as cinematographic works);
g/ Plastic-art works and works of applied ait;
h/ Photographic works;
i Architectural works;
j/ Sketches, plans, maps and drawings related to topography, architecture or scientific works: k/ Folklore and folk art works of folk culture; 1/ Computer programs and data compilations.
2. Derivative works shall be protected under Clause I of this Article only if it is not prejudicial to the copyright to works used to create these derivative works.
3. Protected works defined in Clauses I and 2 of this Article must be created personally by authors through their intellectual labor without copying others" works.
4. The Government shall guide in detail the types of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article.”
Thus, musical works are one of the types of works eligible for copyright protection.
Are musical works eligible for copyright protection? If there are acts of infringing upon the right to distribute musical works to the public, what is the fine for that?
What are the acts which are considered infringement of copyright?
Pursuant to Article 28 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005 of Vietnam on infringement of copyright:
“Article 28. Conduct constituting infringement of copyright
1. Appropriating copyright in a literary, artistic or scientific work.
2. Impersonating an author.
3. Publishing or distributing a work without permission from the author.
4. Publishing or distributing a work of joint authors without permission from the co-authors.
5. Modifying, editing or distorting a work in any way which prejudices the honour and reputation of the author.
6. Copying a work without permission from the author or copyright holder, except in the cases stipulated in sub-clauses (a) and (dd) of article 25.1 of this Law.
7. Making a derivative work without permission from the author or copyright holder of the work used for making such derivative work, except in the case stipulated in sub-clause (i) of article 25.1 of this Law.
8. Using a work without permission from the copyright holder and without paying royalties, remuneration or other material benefits in accordance with law, except in the cases stipulated in article 25.1 of this Law.
9. Leasing out a work without paying royalties, remuneration or other material benefits to the author or copyright holder.
10. Duplicating, producing copies of, distributing, displaying or communicating a work to the public via a communications network or digital means without permission from the copyright holder.
11. Publishing a work without permission from the copyright holder.
12. Deliberately destroying or de-activating the technical solutions applied by the copyright holder to protect copyright in his or her work.
13. Deliberately deleting or modifying electronic information in a work regarding management of the rights to such work.
14. Manufacturing, assembling, transforming, distributing, importing, exporting, selling or leasing out equipment when knowing, or having grounds to know, that such equipment may de-activate technical solutions applied by the copyright holder to protect copyright in his or her work.
15. Making and selling a work with a forged signature of the author of such work.
16. Importing, exporting or distributing copies of a work without permission from the copyright holder.”
Theo Điều 28 Luật Sở hữu trí tuệ 2005 quy định về những hành vi xâm phạm đến quyền tác giả như sau:
"Điều 28. Hành vi xâm phạm quyền tác giả
What is the fine of the acts of infringing upon the right to distribute musical works to the public?
Pursuant to Article 28 of Decree 131/2013/ND-CP of Vietnam on the fines of the acts of infringing upon the right to distribute originals or duplicates of phonograms or video recordings to the public:
“Article 28. Acts of infringing upon the right to distribute originals or duplicates of phonograms or video recordings to the public
1. A fine of between VND 10,000,000 and 30,000,000 shall be imposed for distributing originals or duplicates of a phonogram or video recording without permission of the right holder of producers of phonograms or video recordings.
2. Remedial measures:
Forcibly removing copies of phonogram, video recording, in electronic form, on internet and digital environment, or forcible destruction of material evidence of violation for act specified in Clause 1 of this Article.”
Thus, Mr. An's act of distributing a duplicate of your song on YouTube without your permission is an infringement of your right to distribute the music work to the public. Thus, Mr. An may be fined from VND 10,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 depending on the severity of the act. In addition, Mr. An also has to take remedial measures, forcing the removal of copies of the phonogram, video recording on YouTube.
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