To ensure the national anthem is played according to the law.

The moments when the national anthem is played are always moving and precious. To achieve this, respect and a cultural vision from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism are essential.

Next Media's prolonged silence

On the evening of December 6th, watching the YouTube broadcast of the Vietnam-Laos match in the AFF Cup, the public only saw the players' lips moving. There were no words, not even a single note of the national anthems of either country. The YouTube screen of Next Sports (Next Media) displayed the message: “Due to music copyright reasons, we are forced to mute the audio during the flag ceremony. After the ceremony, the audio will return to normal. We appreciate your understanding.” However, in the television broadcast, this audio was present and normal.

The family of composer Văn Cao has donated the national anthem.

Nguyen Dinh Toan

But this wasn't the only match where the national anthem was muted. BH Media, a YouTube partner, said that many other matches were also intentionally muted. According to BH Media: "We are unclear why the unit broadcasting the AFF Cup 2020 matches (on YouTube) intentionally muted the opening national anthems in all the matches that took place, including Singapore - Myanmar, Timor Leste - Thailand, Cambodia - Malaysia, and Vietnam - Laos."

Regarding the incident, lawyer Phan Vu Tuan (Phan Law Firm) stated that VTV could broadcast the national anthem without muting it because it wouldn't be affected if it hadn't obtained permission to use the recording. “According to Articles 33 and 34 of the Intellectual Property Law, VTV is allowed to use the recording first, then they can ask for permission and pay, or even not ask for permission at all. YouTube, however, is not within the scope of television broadcasting, and furthermore, YouTube has its own regulations,” Mr. Tuan added. Therefore, according to Mr. Tuan, Next Media's proactive muting of the recording was a “risk prevention measure” because they didn't know which version of the national anthem was being played, who recorded it, or whether its use was permitted.

Thanh Nien contacted Next Media and sent them three questions: Did Next Media mute the national anthem on YouTube because they were afraid of losing money from broadcasting the Vietnam-Laos match? Is Next Media currently muting the national anthem during all football matches on their channel, and why? Furthermore, they needed to know the plan to resolve the issue so that viewers can watch the matches with full sound when the national anthem is sung. However, Next Media did not answer these questions.

The players sang the national anthem during the Vietnam - Laos match.

screenshot

Filling the gaps in management and enforcement documents.

The issue of managing the national anthem is not a new one. Thanh Nien newspaper previously raised this issue in its article "Whose permission is needed to perform the national anthem?" in November. The article posed legal questions such as: if a foreign orchestra wants to perform the national anthem, or if a foreign film about Vietnam wants to use the national anthem, do they need permission, and if so, who do they need permission from, and what are the procedures? Is it permissible for a competition to add new lyrics to the national anthem, and what are the procedures? The article also raised the issue of the need for specific regulations on the use of the national anthem. Associate Professor Bui Hoai Son, a member of the National Assembly , even suggested that such regulations might require consultation with the National Assembly, as issues like the national emblem, national flag, and national anthem are all decided by this representative body of the people.

Regarding the case, lawyer Phan Vu Tuan stated: "Normally, in the past, state-owned record companies were assigned the political task of producing audio recordings. For example, Saigon Audio, Ho Guom Audio, Dihavina… were state-owned entities. They produced recordings for the public to sing. The state assigned and accepted the political task, and they received state funding to produce them. Therefore, according to Article 46 of the Intellectual Property Law, those audio recordings belong to the state. I believe that the state has allowed this many times before, but now it may have fallen into private hands."

Following the meeting on December 7th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism instructed the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to urgently send a document to the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and Sportfive (the owner of the media rights for the AFF Cup 2020, and a partner of the AFF) to inform them of the incident. The VFF will be responsible for requesting the AFF to ensure that the incident will not be repeated in subsequent matches of the Vietnamese national team at the AFF Cup 2020. The VFF is also responsible for providing a recording of the Vietnamese national anthem for use in the remaining matches of the tournament. It is understood that this recording has been used when Vietnam hosted international sports events and tournaments and does not infringe on copyright.

Nhat Duy

Lawyer Pham Duy Khuong (ASL Law) believes that having a legal framework alongside the "library" of free recordings of the national anthem for public use is necessary. Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to have specific regulations on how the recording of the national anthem should be used in state ceremonies, diplomatic events, celebrations, competitions, etc. This would define what recordings are owned by the state, how the state provides them free of charge to the public, and so on. This would prevent the unauthorized use of recordings. Of course, using copyright-safe recordings would also ensure that the national anthem can be heard clearly and legally on all platforms.

On the morning of December 7th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a statement: requiring all individuals and organizations to strictly comply and refrain from any actions that hinder the dissemination of the Vietnamese National Anthem. On the afternoon of December 7th, a technical meeting was held to discuss issues related to the National Anthem and how to prevent it from being silenced again. On December 8th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will release information on the recordings of the "Marching Song" produced by the Ministry's artistic units.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-quoc-ca-duoc-vang-len-dung-luat-1851409189.htm