What are the acts considered infringement of copyright in Vietnam?

Hello,  Lawnet would like to answer the following:

1. Acts of Infringement of copyright in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 28 of the Law Intellectual Property, acts of infringement of copyright includes:

- Appropriating copyright in a literary, artistic or scientific work.

- Impersonating an author.

- Publishing or distributing a work without permission from the author.

- Publishing or distributing a work of joint authors without permission from the co-authors.

- Modifying, editing or distorting a work in any way which prejudices the honour and reputation of the author.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- Leasing out a work without paying royalties, remuneration or other material benefits to the author or copyright holder.

- 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.

- Publishing a work without permission from the copyright holder.

- Deliberately destroying or de-activating the technical solutions applied by the copyright holder to protect copyright in his or her work.

- Deliberately deleting or modifying electronic information in a work regarding management of the rights to such work.

- 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.

- Making and selling a work with a forged signature of the author of such work.

- Importing, exporting or distributing copies of a work without permission from the copyright holder.

However, in some cases, the use of the above-published work does not require permission or payment of royalties or remuneration if it falls into the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 25 of the current Intellectual Property Law.

2. Rights to self-protection of intellectual property rights in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 198 of the Law Intellectual Property, rights to self-protection of intellectual property rights include:

- An intellectual property right holder shall have the right to apply the following measures to protect the intellectual property rights of such holder:

+ To apply technological measures to prevent acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights;

+ To request any organization or individual who commits an act of infringement of the intellectual property rights of the holder to terminate such act, make a public apology or rectification, and pay damages;

+ To request the competent State body to deal with acts of infringement of its intellectual property rights in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws;

+ To initiate a lawsuit at a court or a claim at an arbitration centre to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the holder.

- Organizations and individuals who suffer loss and damage caused by acts of infringement of intellectual property rights or who discover acts of infringement of intellectual property rights which cause loss and damage to consumers or society shall have the right to request the competent State body to deal with such acts in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

- Organizations and individuals who suffer loss and damage or who are likely to suffer loss and damage caused by acts of unfair competition shall have the right to request the competent State body to apply the civil remedies stipulated in article 202 of this Law and the administrative remedies stipulated in the law on competition.

- The defendant in a lawsuit over the infringement of intellectual property rights and receive acquittal from the Court is entitled to request the Court to order the plaintiff to reimburse for their reasonable expenses such as the cost of hiring a lawyer or other expenses in accordance with laws.

- In case an organization or individual abuses the procedures for intellectual property protection and thus causes damage to another organization or individual, the organization and individual suffering damage is entitled to request the Court to force the abuser to pay damages, including reasonable costs of hiring a lawyer. Acts of abusing intellectual property rights protection procedures include acts of intentionally exceeding the scope or objective of this procedure.

Thus, the holder of intellectual property rights can apply technological measures to prevent acts of infringement, request the other party apologize and compensate, or initiate a lawsuit in court to protect their rights and interests.

3. Civil remedies in dealing with infringements of intellectual property rights in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 202 of the Law Intellectual Property, the courts may apply the following civil remedies in dealing with organizations and individuals who have committed acts of infringement of intellectual property rights:

- Compulsory termination of the infringing acts.

- Compulsory public apology and rectification.

- Compulsory performance of civil obligations.

- Compulsory payment of damages for loss.

- Compulsory destruction, distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of goods, raw materials and materials, and facilities used principally for the production or trading of goods which infringed intellectual property rights, provided that such destruction, distribution or use will not affect the exploitation of rights by intellectual property right holders.

Thus, the court will base its decision on the evidence provided by the parties or the evidence collected by the court to apply appropriate handling measures in order to maximize the legitimate rights and interests of the obligee.

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