Heavy fines to deter copyright infringement

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is drafting a decree regulating administrative penalties for copyright violations with fines increasing commensurate with the level of damage caused.

Disregard for the law

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it had conducted 534 inspections and checks on compliance with legal regulations in the field of copyright and related rights in combination with cultural fields under its authority such as cinema, art, performance (beauty contests), photography, etc. This unit has administratively sanctioned 447 organizations and 3 individuals, and recommended revoking 56 film distribution licenses to adjust copyright owners. The total amount of administrative fines according to Decree 131/2013/ND-CP is 12.8 billion VND.

The main violations that are punished are performing works live in public without the permission of the copyright owner, using published audio and video recordings for commercial purposes in restaurants, supermarkets, karaoke businesses without paying the copyright owner or related rights owner according to regulations. Ms. Pham Thi Kim Oanh, Deputy Director of the Copyright Department - Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that according to current regulations, the highest fine for copyright infringement for individuals is 250 million VND, for organizations is 500 million VND, however, according to Decree 131/2013/ND-CP, few acts have such high fines. The level of fines for acts of infringement of personal rights, property rights of authors, copyright owners, and related rights to performances, audio recordings, video recordings, and broadcast programs is generally low, only ranging from 15 to 30 million VND.

The Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association has temporarily revoked the 2021 Young Author Award for the work “Psychoanalytic Criticism - The Side of Artistic Obsessions” by author Vu Thi Trang due to the book being “accused” of copyright infringement. (Photo: NGUYEN HOANG)

According to the analysis of the Copyright Office, the decree stipulates the new fine level based only on the act, not on the level of damage caused by the act, the value of the quantity of pirated goods, and there is no classification according to the subject of copyright and related rights that are violated. This leads to inappropriate administrative sanctions, which do not ensure deterrence. The representative of the Vietnam Copyright Protection Center cited Point a, Clause 1, Article 13 of Decree 131, which stipulates the penalty for performing a work directly in public without the permission of the copyright owner, according to the regulation, the fine for individuals is from 5-10 million VND, for organizations is from 10-20 million VND.

This is a very low fine compared to the scale and revenue of billions of dong from current performances. This figure is also smaller than the royalties that units have to pay to authors. It is the very low fine that has led to the mentality of disregarding legal obligations, openly violating copyright to reduce costs and increase profits.

Penalties according to the level of damage

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet commented that after 10 years of implementation, Decree 131/2013/ND-CP has changed the legal framework on copyright and related rights, leading to the need to issue a replacement decree. Currently, Vietnam has joined a series of bilateral, multilateral and regional international treaties on copyright and related rights in the digital environment, including the Copyright Treaty and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property has also come into effect since January 1, 2023. According to Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to draft a decree regulating administrative sanctions for violations of copyright and related rights to ensure consistent application of legal provisions, and at the same time effectively implement the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property 2022 in the direction of ensuring reasonable and effective sanctions for violations of copyright and related rights.

At a recent working session with members of the Drafting Committee and the Editorial Team to develop a decree regulating administrative sanctions for copyright and related rights, Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet requested careful research during the process of drafting the decree, focusing on clearly and fully stating the acts considered administrative violations of copyright and related rights. The Deputy Minister also emphasized that the framework and level of sanctions for specific acts must be carefully calculated and reasonable, ensuring that the decree, when implemented, has educational value and creates deterrence.

According to the leader of the Copyright Office, the draft decree replacing Decree 131 has increased the total number of chapters and 72 articles to more clearly define the forms of violations that will be subject to administrative penalties, as well as clearly state the solution to overcome the consequences for each act. The level of penalties is also being studied in the direction of increasing, commensurate with the level of damage caused by the subjects.

The Inspector of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed to add many contents to the decree replacing Decree 131. Including the addition of remedial measures "Forced to apologize to authors and performers" for acts of infringement of the personal rights of authors and performers; "Forced to return illegal profits obtained from committing acts of infringement of the property rights of copyright owners, property rights of performers, rights of producers of audio and video recordings, rights of broadcasting organizations"...

Source: https://nld.com.vn/van-nghe/phat-nang-de-ran-de-vi-pham-ban-quyen-202306042154093.htm