Exploiting digital music 'resources'

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong, Director of the Institute for Media Policy and Development Research, statistics show that approximately 70 million Vietnamese people use the internet, with the number of people using entertainment websites (including music) being among the largest in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We have a huge online music market," Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong observed. This is further evidenced by another statistic showing that music consumption trends in Vietnam, as well as globally, are increasing by over 20% on the internet.

The copyright "pie"

Recognizing the immense potential of the online music market in Vietnam, many entities have quickly entered the game of exploiting music copyrights on this platform. These include established players (those with many years of experience in music copyright protection) such as the Vietnam Copyright Protection Center for Music (VCPMC), and newcomers like MCM Online, a company using technology to protect music copyrights online, headed by musician Le Minh Son. The emergence of these technology-based copyright protection entities is expected to help create a healthy digital content ecosystem. In fact, major global music websites/stores have long applied technology to copyright protection.

Singer Phuong Vy and many other singers believe that "it's impossible to know what to do when different companies are stepping on each other's toes in the music business on YouTube."

NSCC

“Good copyright management will gradually foster a culture of using copyrighted music, where authors will receive respect, thereby providing them with encouragement. My aspiration is also for musicians to be able to make a living from their works, meaning that users must pay royalties to musicians. This may seem obvious, but it is actually something many musicians like me have long desired,” musician Le Minh Son expressed. Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong also stated: “Spiritual value must go hand in hand with economic value.” “The profit generated from copyright protection is what creates sustainability and promotes the development of the online entertainment market. That is what countries with entertainment industries have already done,” Mr. Dong said.

Transparency and honesty are needed.

In fact, while copyright protection on digital platforms is not new to the world, it remains a relatively unfamiliar area in Vietnam. Recently, there have been issues surrounding copyright protection on digital platforms. Many singers and songwriters have expressed frustration at receiving copyright warnings and chaotic strikes on YouTube. Besides the case of songwriter Giáng Son, who faced a copyright complaint against her own work, "Giấc mơ trưa" (a poem by Nguyễn Vĩnh Tiến), after she created a YouTube channel and shared the song there, there have also been cases of singers having their YouTube channels shut down.

"The revenue generated from copyright protection is a sustainable way to boost the development of the online entertainment market. This is what countries with established entertainment industries have already done."

Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong , Director of the Institute for Research on Policy and Media Development

Composer Hoai An stated: “With a proper understanding of intellectual property (IP) and honesty, the copyright situation wouldn't have seen so many noisy cases recently. Regarding IP, musicians, singers, producers, digital content companies, etc., should understand the terminology correctly, understand the details of the terms, and partner with a consulting firm specializing in IP law. Above all, we need transparency and honesty regarding our IP assets.”

According to him, besides the serious and ethical businesses, there are those that "plunder" rights they don't possess, or deliberately try to "circumvent" the rules with contracts containing many clauses that "deceive" even the artists (most artists work primarily on trust, sometimes without even reading these contracts completely). Furthermore, he mentioned cases where people take existing recordings, separate the singer's vocals, add backing vocals and instruments to create a new master version, and then claim 100% ownership (this is not allowed unless there is consent from the record owner and other stakeholders). "It is this 'quick profit' mentality of some digital content copyright businesses, rushing to make the most profit as quickly as possible, exploiting the gullibility and lack of understanding of intellectual property law among artists, that has created many copyright disputes in recent times," musician Hoài An expressed his frustration.

From another perspective, musician Nguyen Van Chung bitterly remarked: "Whether the online music environment is healthy or not probably depends on the mindset of the business owners. Not to mention some companies 'steal' the copyrights of folk songs, Cai Luong, Cheo, and Ho songs... and then go on to sue other users for copyright infringement. Some companies exploit the protection period for works (50 years after the author's death, the work is used as common property) to seize the copyrights of these works for commercial exploitation; and YouTube doesn't need to know or differentiate each case, as long as whoever holds the copyright and registered it first, it automatically warns and penalizes those who upload later."

Mr. Nguyen Van Chung believes that the online music environment is now a playground for tech-savvy individuals who understand the steps and techniques for successful business, rather than for singers and songwriters. "It seems that the laws governing music are not keeping pace with the rapid development of the market and technology, so lawsuits will continue to be frequent. I find it too troublesome after many disputes, so each time I suffer a loss from copyright infringement, I consider it another lesson," the musician said.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Han, representative of the technology development unit of MCM Online, Vietnam can learn from international music industries. Mr. Han gave the example that a music channel can be considered a stage, where authorization can be diverse, artists can authorize different entities, and this is regulated in detail, ensuring that the authorizations do not infringe on each other's rights. Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Quang Dong acknowledged that Vietnam has many loopholes in copyright protection, but copyright protection is a crucial piece for the development of the digital economy. "This is a large business sector, so it needs to be promoted," Mr. Dong stated.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khai-thac-tai-nguyen-nhac-so-1851434302.htm