Resolutely prevent and handle copyright infringement, protect press products in the digital environment

On September 13 in Hanoi, the Vietnam Journalists Association, in collaboration with the Vietnam Digital Communications Association and the People's Representative Newspaper, organized a workshop on "Protecting press copyright in the digital environment". The workshop was attended by leaders of press management agencies, leaders of leading press agencies in Vietnam, and many experienced press experts.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Tran Trong Dung - Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association stated: One of the major challenges to the digital transformation of journalism is the problem of copyright infringement of digital content, whereby the phenomenon of violating the legal rights granted to creators or owners of digital content to control its copying, distribution and use in the digital environment is occurring widely at high speed, with increasingly serious and complex nature, and an increasingly wide scope. This is a major barrier to the digital transformation of journalism in current press agencies.

Mr. Tran Trong Dung said that protecting press copyright in the digital environment has become an urgent issue for all journalists and press agencies. When copyright is protected, it ensures that journalists and authors are recognized and paid appropriately for their journalistic work. This promotes creativity and investment in journalistic content creation, motivating journalists and press agencies to invest in content development projects and journalism innovation projects.

Mr. Tran Trong Dung - Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association commented that the problem of digital content copyright infringement is a major barrier to digital transformation of journalism.

According to Mr. Tran Trong Dung, copyright, intellectual property rights and related rights have been stipulated by law, however, the division of State management rights on intellectual property is currently scattered, lacking unity and close coordination among functional units. Sanctions are still incomplete, unclear and contradictory, overlapping, causing difficulties in handling. In addition, the understanding and awareness of law compliance of organizations and individuals exploiting and using press works is currently not strict.

Also mentioning the legal environment, Mr. Ho Quang Loi - Vice President of Vietnam Digital Communications Association expressed his opinion that digital content in general and copyright of press works in particular must face new challenges, requiring the legal environment to be reshaped.

Mr. Ho Quang Loi said that the situation of copyright infringement of press works is increasingly common and sophisticated. Not only copyright infringement, but also news and articles that are "stolen from copyright" in many cases are cut, distorted, and have incorrect information, affecting the reputation of the copyright holder and the author of the article, causing negative effects in society and affecting the development of the country.

Not only that, according to Mr. Ho Quang Loi, copyright infringement of press works also causes great economic losses for press agencies. The market share of advertising and exploitation of press content that should belong to copyright holders is instead flowing to websites, electronic pages, and social network accounts, causing many press agencies to face great difficulties in terms of revenue.

"This requires strong participation from the state management and direction agencies of the press, and state management agencies related to the fields of copyright and intellectual property," Mr. Ho Quang Loi emphasized.

Representing the leaders of press agencies, journalist Nguyen Duc Hien - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper, stated the current situation, frequency and quantity of copyright infringements in the press are increasing. According to journalist Nguyen Duc Hien, if two decades ago, a press work was often infringed by only one or a few subjects - usually other press agencies, now it can be simultaneously infringed and shared with readers by many, maybe hundreds, thousands of subjects, on all media and platforms with diverse methods, difficult to deal with, in many cases impossible to deal with.

"A newly published journalistic work, after just a few dozen minutes, can be slightly modified and become a video clip, voiced with an AI voice or rewritten by another newspaper, flooding the internet on Youtube, Tiktok, Facebook...

Meanwhile, copyright protection, although regulated, has not kept up with changes in technology, and is mainly only strong enough to protect copyright from infringement by traditional subjects and platforms," journalist Nguyen Duc Hien said.

To help press agencies protect themselves and support press agencies in protecting copyright, the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper said that three pillars are needed: One is to amend current legal regulations; Two is the strong, strict and effective operation of the system of competent agencies, the self-protection awareness of the press agencies themselves; Three is the support of technology.

Journalist Nguyen Minh Duc - Editor-in-Chief of Hanoi Moi Newspaper shared his opinion at the Workshop.

Assessing the reasons why copyright infringement is becoming more and more painful and difficult to prevent, journalist Nguyen Minh Duc - Editor-in-Chief of Hanoi Moi Newspaper said that first of all, it is due to the strong development of the Internet and devices that allow Internet access, which have made transmitting and copying works easier than ever, with just a few clicks to copy.

Another reason is that the level of understanding and awareness of organizations and individuals on this issue is still limited. "We have not made protecting our property an important task. Press agencies have not been decisive in dealing with this situation. Many people with rights are not aware of their rights and do not know how to protect their rights when they are violated," said journalist Nguyen Minh Duc.

Sharing the same view with journalist Nguyen Duc Hien, Editor-in-Chief of Ha Noi Moi Newspaper also said that in many cases, the law has not really caught up with the development of technology, there are still "loopholes" in effectively protecting copyright in the Internet environment. The penalty for violating press copyright is still light, not enough of a deterrent. Vietnam also does not have a professional organization to handle conflicts between copyright violators and press agencies.

Sharing her opinion at the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thu Hang - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Professional Committee of the Vietnam Journalists Association said that copyright infringement is not only a violation of the law but more than that, it is a degradation of ethics and culture.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thu Hang said that violating press copyright is an act that violates ethical and cultural standards.

Journalists' violation of press copyright is often considered a violation of ethical standards and media culture standards because it is related to a series of important values in journalism and media, including: Honesty and trustworthiness; respect for intellectual property rights, diversity and independence in information sources and the issue of promoting creativity and fairness.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thu Hang emphasized that the noble symbol of ethics and culture of journalists and press agencies is honesty and reliability. Journalists and newsrooms must ensure that the information they provide is correct and accurate. Copying or reusing content without permission or modifying content, impersonating to meet personal goals can mislead readers and destroy the credibility of journalists and press agencies.

"Ethical standards in journalism require respect for the intellectual property rights of others. Journalists are not allowed to take other people's content without permission or in violation of copyright regulations," Associate Professor, Dr. Do Thi Thu Hang commented.

Delegates attending the Workshop analyzed and clarified the current situation of copyright infringement of press works, especially the situation of exploiting digital copyright in the press field, as well as discussed finding effective solutions to protect press copyright in the digital environment.

At the workshop, delegates, leaders of management agencies and leaders of press agencies all expressed the opinion that protecting press copyright helps prevent the phenomenon of stealing press materials, forging press to spread false information, distortions, fake news, and promote a press with "genuine goods" and "high-quality goods".

Protecting press copyright is also a prerequisite for protecting the financial resources of press agencies as well as effectively implementing digital content business models, contributing to solving the problem of press and media economics in current press agencies.

Leaders of the Vietnam Journalists Association and leaders of the Vietnam Digital Communications Association signed a cooperation agreement on press copyright protection.

In addition, delegates proposed practical solutions to help press agencies have more grounds to be resolute in preventing and handling copyright infringement, best protecting their intellectual products, creating a healthy and transparent competitive environment in the field of press and media, helping press activities to become increasingly better in quality and professionalism, ensuring the mission of serving the revolutionary cause of the Party.

Also within the framework of the Workshop, a signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam Journalists Association and the Vietnam Digital Communications Association on press copyright protection took place. The signing ceremony is expected to promote consulting and guidance activities for journalists and press organizations on intellectual property rights and copyright-related issues in the coming time; support journalists and press agencies in copyright registration and resolving copyright-related disputes. At the same time, coordinate with competent authorities to inspect, monitor and handle acts of copyright infringement of press works.

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