Advertising money is flowing into the pockets of social media platforms due to copyright infringement.

Damage can amount to thousands of billions of dong each year.

In the era of digital technology explosion, the revenue of press agencies, in addition to revenue from signing advertising contracts with businesses, implementing communications according to State orders, revenue from online advertising, selling digital products such as e-books, exclusive articles, videos, podcasts, etc., revenue from readers registering to read exclusive or private content are increasingly considered large and important sources of revenue, a way for the press to develop sustainably in the new period.

As the public's needs, psychology, and information access habits change dramatically, competition among press agencies, between the press and other digital media becomes increasingly fierce, the issue of press copyright needs to be viewed more clearly, with a broader perspective, especially when it is associated with the press economy .

The advertising cake is running into the pockets of social networks due to copyright infringement, image 1 — Journalist Nguyen Minh Duc - Editor-in-Chief of Hanoi Moi Newspaper said that copyright protection is extremely important to ensure the fairness and accuracy of published information as well as the value of journalistic labor.

Analyzing this issue, journalist Nguyen Minh Duc - Editor-in-Chief of Hanoi Moi Newspaper said that from an economic perspective, uncontrolled copying of articles will affect the style of a newspaper, the copied newspaper will lose loyal readers when it cannot protect copyright. In addition, it also seriously affects the revenue of journalists when advertising revenue of the copied newspaper decreases.

When official press works are copied or stolen, the problem is not simply copyright infringement, but the information that is cut, copied, and violated also distorts and falsifies information. For press agencies, this violation affects the brand, reputation, and harms the efforts and achievements of copyright holders and journalists, while also causing great economic losses.

Journalist Nguyen Minh Duc gave a specific example of the economic damage that many press agencies have been facing: Currently, there are two basic channels through which the revenue of copyright holders is "flowing back" to copyright-infringing websites.

Firstly, according to journalist Nguyen Minh Duc, many news sites, newspapers and even "3 no" sites - unknown origin, unknown management agency, social networks, due to the requirement of a large number of daily news articles, pressure on the number of "views" to be able to sell advertising and "sell clicks", have "scooped" the whole article or part of it and "republished" it from copyrighted press units, leading to the phenomenon that units that do not directly create content receive advertising money, while units that directly own the product content do not receive the value commensurate with the amount they spend.

The second channel that journalist Nguyen Minh Duc identified as the most complicated, difficult to control and widespread is that personal accounts, especially fake accounts, unverified accounts on social networks Facebook and Youtube, often cut information, images, films on official press and television channels and create information according to personal purposes with the purpose of "attracting views" and "attracting followers". Therefore, information is often edited in a way that is more sensational, creates outrage, and debates, the easier it is to increase "following".

When reaching a large enough number of “followers”, technology platforms such as Facebook and Youtube will divide advertising revenue from brands, mainly domestic brands. Thus, Google and Facebook’s advertising revenue in Vietnam has been and is having a large contribution from the news segment that reuses sources from newspapers, but in a way that is… “free”.

The advertising cake is running into the pockets of social networks due to copyright infringement, image 2 — Many websites and fanpages specialize in "stealing" news articles from newspapers. (Photo: Vietnam Law Newspaper)

"Although there has not been an official investigation into the economic damage caused by copyright or intellectual property infringement, according to preliminary statistics from authorities, illegal revenue from copyright piracy could amount to thousands of billions of dong each year," said Mr. Duc.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of Ha Noi Moi Newspaper, because most of the unofficial websites and electronic pages are currently introduced by Google because these pages pay Google, Google also often runs ads on pages with signs of infringement. "The advertising cake that should belong to the copyright holders is "flowing into the pockets" of websites, electronic pages, and social network accounts, causing the revenue of many press agencies to decrease day by day, while the "big guys" of social networks Google and Facebook make a lot of money from infringing on the copyright of official press works" , Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc stated the situation.

Looking for solutions

Copyright infringements are currently being carried out in extremely sophisticated and ever-changing ways, and it is difficult to handle violations that are carried out across borders, from foreign countries providing services to Vietnam. Despite many efforts by management agencies, intermediary service providers, organizations, representatives of copyright owners, and copyright owners in coordination, the increasing trend of copyright infringement requires more practical and feasible solutions.

Journalist Nguyen Minh Duc said that detecting copyright infringement is not difficult, but dealing with these acts effectively is not simple, requiring solutions to be implemented comprehensively and synchronously.

On the side of press agencies, according to Mr. Duc, it is possible to develop a service to sell copyrights of press works. This service allows other partners to use the works of the press agency holding the copyright on the condition that they purchase the copyright in advance. Press works can include articles, images, videos and audio published or produced by press agencies.

"When other partners want to use these works, they must purchase copyrights from press agencies. This helps ensure that the works are used in accordance with copyright regulations and that press agencies receive appropriate fees for using their works," journalist Nguyen Minh Duc shared.

The advertising cake is running into the pockets of social networks due to copyright infringement, image 3 — According to data from the Press Department, Ministry of Information and Communications, nearly 80% of advertising money from domestic companies and brands is transferred to Facebook and Google. On average, about 900 million USD of advertising money flows abroad each year.

The Editor-in-Chief of Hanoi Moi Newspaper also recommended that press agencies should closely coordinate with state management agencies in the process of developing legal documents related to copyright issues and closely participate in the implementation process and contribute ideas to amending the documents.

Regarding this issue, Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thao - Deputy Director of the Press Department, Ministry of Information and Communications said that the Press Department, Ministry of Information and Communications is continuing to advise the government and the National Assembly to amend the Press Law, including a very important content, the Press Law in digital space, to update press activities in the new situation, and continue to have recommendations related to copyright.

Building a standard process to combat press copyright infringement is a major concern for press agencies. The Press Department will make recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Communications to build a more complete and specific legal system, especially on copyright protection in the digital environment and copyright protection using technological solutions.

"On the part of the Ministry of Information and Communications, when press agencies detect copyright violations, we will promptly classify and handle not only electronic information sites, unofficial information sites but also cross-border social networking platforms," Ms. Thao emphasized.

According to Ms. Dang Thi Phuong Thao, in the past time, the Press Department and the Ministry of Information and Communications have removed and handled many violations of press copyright, however, in reality, press agencies have not really taken action, and there is still hesitation in this fight. Press units need to continue to cooperate more in detecting and providing information on violations.

In fact, copyright infringement of press works in the digital environment not only affects the reputation and quality of newspapers, but also affects the income of press agencies.

If each press agency implements its own protection solutions, it will be like participating in an unequal battle. However, if there is direction, support, and assistance from ministries, branches, state agencies, and unanimous coordination among press agencies, this will be an opportunity for press agencies to become more mature in character, more stable in profession, and more effective in expertise.

Hoa Giang

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