The acts of unauthorized copying and cropping the contents of articles, images and videos that have been posted on the official websites of the organizations or individuals might be subject to administrative (and even criminal) sanctions in many cases.
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 of whether being published and registered or not.
1. The acts that are considered as copyright infringement
- Publishing and distributing works without the author’s permission.
- Using works without citation or incorrect referral to the author’s real name or pseudonym.
- 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.
2. The fine for copyright infringement
Law on Intellectual Property provides two mechanisms to deal with copyright violations:
- 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 2-500 million VND.
- Criminal sanctions: The infringement of intellectual property rights with criminal elements shall be prosecuted for criminal liability in compliance with the Criminal Law.
Besides, some remedial measures may be applied:
- Forcibly removing in the digital environment any copies of works, performances, phonograph, video recordings or broadcasts, which are infringed on in electronic form;
- Forcible refund of royalties, remuneration or material benefits obtained from committing violation, to copyright or related right holders.
3. Copyright protection for works
The works protected by copyright must satisfy two criteria:
- Have to be created by the author’s intelligence and not copied from others.
- Not being deemed as 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.
4. Copyright protection for images, videos (recordings, video recordings)
Recordings and video recordings are legally protected when the producers or publishers of such images and videos fall into one of the following cases:
- Have Vietnamese nationality; or
- Being protected under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.
5. 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.
6. The term of copyright protection
Copyright is protected indefinitely for:
- The work’s name;
- Real name or pseudonym included on the work;
- The integrity of the work.
The term of copyright protection for anonymous works or the works of cinematographic, photography, theater, applied art and shall be fifty years 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, with the additional 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;
7. Legal solutions to protect copyright
When the copyright infringement is discovered, then (depending 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 the Law on Handling Administrative, Civil and Criminal Violations (2012).
- Before you submit a request to the state for rights protection, individuals who have been violated should collect evidence (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.
8. Technological 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.
