Vietnamese law protects the copyright for the contents posted on the websites of the organizations and individuals from the moment that such contents are created and expressed by the author in a certain form, regardless being published and registered or not.

Some acts that are considered as copyright infringement may include:

• Publishing and distributing of works without permission of the author.
• Using works without citation or incorrectly refer to real name or pseudonym of the author.
• Editing, cropping or distorting works under any manners that may prejudice the honor or reputation of the author.
• Copying works without permission of the author.

The fine for copyright infringement 

Law on Intellectual Property provides two mechanisms to deal with violations of copyright:

• Administrative sanctions: specifically, monetary fine will be applied provided that the copyright infringement causes damage to authors, consumers or society. The amount of the fine may depend on each act of violations, which can range from 2 million VND to 500 million VND.
• Criminal sanctions: the infringement of intellectual property rights with criminal elements shall be prosecuted for criminal liability in accordance with the criminal law.

Besides, some remedial measures may be applied:

• Forcibly removing copies of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, or broadcasts which are infringed in electronic form, on the internet and digital environment;
• Forcible refund of royalties, remuneration, or material benefits obtained from committing violation, to copyright or related right holders.

Works

The works protected by copyright must satisfy two criteria:

• Works that are created by the author’s intelligence and not copied from others.
• Not the works deemed to be the common news that anyone can access, an article that informs and quotes the original contents of a legal document and its translation nor the articles that are theoretical and introduce the concepts and pure data.

Images, videos (recordings, video recordings)

Recordings and video recordings are protected by law when the producers or publishers of such images and videos fall into one of the following cases:

• To have Vietnamese nationality; or
• To be protected under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Copyright protection for both foreign organizations and individuals 

Vietnamese law also protects the copyright of foreign individuals and organizations for the contents which have been published:

• For the first time in Vietnam without publishing in any countries before; or
• Simultaneously in Vietnam within 30 days commencing from the date they are first published in another country.
• Shall be protected under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member

The term of copyright protection

Copyright is protected indefinitely for : The name the works; real name or pseudonym on the work; the integrity of the work.
The term of copyright protection for the works of cinematographic, photography, theater, applied art and anonymous ones shall be fifty years commencing from commencing from the work’s first publication. The term of protection for those which do not belong to aforementioned kinds shall last throughout the life of the author and the next fifty years after the author’s death; in the case of co-authored works, the term of protection shall expire on the fiftieth year after the last co-author’s death;

Legal solutions to protect copyright

• When the copyright infringement is discovered, depend on the severity of the infringement, organizations or individuals may :

• Apply technological measures to stop the copyright infringement;
• Request the organizations and individuals that commit infringing acts to apologize, rectify publicly, and compensate for damage.
• Submit a request to the competent state authority to handle infringing acts following the provisions of law on handling administrative, civil and criminal violations.

• Before you submit a request to the state for rights protection, individuals who have been violated should collect evidences (take screenshots of copying sites, collect the relevant data, etc.). It is necessary to search for the assistance of experts for guidance and preparation of legal documents to file a petition within the statute of limitation.

Technology solutions

Besides the mentioned legal solutions, PLF Law Firm encourages you to use some of the following technological means to prevent and stop the content posted on your websites from being copied and cropped:

• Use JavaScript – a programming language that can prevent users from selecting the contents of the articles or can prohibit right clicking when reading the articles.
• Use Tynt Publisher Tools – automatically add source links of articles that are copied.
• Use DMCA Protected: request the service provider – ISP (Internet Service Provider) such as Viettel, FPT, VNPT to intervene and protect your rights.
• Use the site www.copyscape.com: search for the sites with the contents which are copied from your site.