Step to step for copyright registration in Vietnam

 According to the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property, copyright is the right of organizations and individuals to works that are created or owned by them. Copyrights are recognized for literary, artistic, and scientific works such as books, lectures, musical works, theatrical works, cinematographic works,… Copyright automatically arises from the moment a work is finished as a certain material form, whether that work is published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.

Related right is the right of organizations and individuals to performances, audio and visual fixation, and broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programs.

Although copyright registration is not required, if an individual or an organization that is an author has registered copyright/related rights with the Copyright Office – literature and arts will bring a lot of advantages when a dispute occurs. It is also the basis for certifying the time when copyrights and rights of owners of work arise.

Legal basis related to the copyright registration in Vietnam:

• Law on Intellectual Property 2005, amended in 2009;
• Decree No.22/2018/ND-CP on February 23, 2018.

Who has the right to register copyrights in Vietnam:

         According to Article 13 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005, authors and owners entitled to copyright protection include:

• Organizations and individuals with works that are protected by copyright comprise persons who directly create such works and copyright holders;
• Authors and copyright holders stipulated in clause 1 of this Article shall comprise Vietnamese organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals with works published for the first time in Vietnam and not yet published in any other country, or with works also published in Vietnam within thirty days after publication for the first time in another country; and foreign organizations and individuals with works which are protected in Vietnam under an international treaty on the copyright of which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member.

Works can be registered for the copyright in Vietnam:

• Literary works, scientific works, textbooks, teaching courses, and other works expressed in written language or other characters: means works presented in Braille for the blind, shorthand signs and other similar signs instead of written languages, which can be reproduced or copied in different forms by interested parties
• Lectures, addresses, and other speeches: means a type of work presented in spoken languages and required to be fixed in certain material forms
• Presswork: means those with independent contents and completed structure, which takes the following forms: reports, quick notes, news reports, interviews, features, investigative stories, commentaries, editorials, treatise, memoirs, or other forms, which are published or transmitted on the print, phonogram, visual or online media or other media.
• Musical works: means works presented in the form of musical notes in musical pieces or other musical characters or fixed in phonograms and video recordings, with or without lyrics, regardless of whether they are performed or not.
• Stage works mean works of various performing arts, including traditional operetta (Cheo), classical drama (Tuong), reformed opera (Cai Luong), puppetry, play, folk drama, drama, opera, circus, comedy, variety shows, and other theatrical genres.
• Cinematographic works: means works each viewed in movement, with or without soundtracks, and other means according to cinematographic language. Static images taken from a cinematographic work shall be regarded as part of such cinematographic work.
• Plastic artworks and applied artworks: means works presented by lines, colors, three-dimensional figures or layouts, such as works of fine arts, graphic arts, sculpture, installation arts, and similar forms of presentation, which are available in unique copies. Particularly, a work of graphic art may be presented in as many as 50 copies which are ordinarily numbered and bear the author’s signature.
• Photographic works: means works showing images of the objective world on photosensitive materials or other media on which images are created or can be created by chemical, electronic, or other technical methods
• Architectural works: means works of architectural type, including architectural design drawings of facilities or complex of facilities, interiors and landscapes, and architectural facilities
• Sketches, plans, maps, and drawings related to topography or scientific works: include sketches, plans, maps and drawings related to topography, and various types of scientific and architectural works
• Folklore and folk artworks: means works in different genres of the art of performance such as classical drama (Tuong), traditional operetta (Cheo), reformed opera (Cai Luong), puppetry, theme song, music melody; dance, performance, folk game, village festival, and folk ritual

Computer programs and data collections. Term of protection for copyright and related rights in Vietnam:

         Under Article 27 the Law on Intellectual Property 2005, which is amended and supplemented in Clause 8, Article 1 of the Law on amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Intellectual Property 2009:

• Moral rights of authors shall comprise the following rights: To give titles to their works; To attach their real names or pseudonyms to their works; to have their real names or pseudonyms acknowledged when their works are published or used; To protect the integrity of their works; and to forbid other persons to modify, edit or distort their works in whatever form, causing harm to the honor and reputation of the author shall be protected for an indefinite term.
• Term of protection for publishing their works or to authorize other persons to publish the rights of their work:

• • Cinematographic works, photographic works, works of applied art, and anonymous works have a term of protection of seventy-five years from the date of first publication. For cinematographic works, photographic works, and works of applied art that remain unpublished within twenty-five years from the date of fixation, the term of protection is one hundred years from the date of fixation. For anonymous works, when information on their authors is published, the term of protection will be calculated as follows:
  • A work not specified at Point a of this Clause is protected for the whole life of the author and fifty years after his/her death. For work under joint authorship, the term of protection expires in the fiftieth year after the death of the last surviving co-author.
  • The term of protection specified above expires at 24:00 hrs of December 31 of the year of expiration of the copyright protection term.

Copyright registration application in Vietnam includes:

         Under Clause 2 Article 50 of the Law on Intellectual Property 2005, an application for registration of copyrights and related rights includes:

• A declaration for registration of copyright or related rights;
• Two copies of the work the subject of the application for copyright registration, or two copies of the formulated object the subject of the application for related rights registration;
• A power of attorney where the applicant is an authorized person;
• Documents proving the right to apply;
• Written consent of the co-authors in the case of work under joint authorship;
• Written consent of the co-owners of the copyright or related rights is jointly owned.

However, at Viet An Law, we will prepare all necessary documents for customers through the copyright registration services.

Documents need providing to Viet An Law when customers choose the copyright registration services:

• 02 notarized copies of ID card of the author;
• 03 originals of the work (if it is software, there are 03 CDs/CD ROMs for storing the software, and 03 copies of documents for the main interfaces of the software);
• 01 notarized copy of the Business Registration Certificate (if the owner is an organization);
• A contract purchasing rights and written approval for the registration of work arises.

Process of providing copyright registration services at Viet An Law:

• Step 1: Customers shall provide the above information to Viet An Law;
• Step 2: Viet An Law conducts documents to draft and transfers to customers for signature;
• Step 3: Customers transfer documents to Viet An Law;
• Step 4: Viet An Law represents for customers to submit the dossier at the Copyright Office;
• Step 5: After 15 – 20 days, when Viet An Law receives the results, Viet An Law returns customers and finishes the services.

With a team of intellectual property representatives, lawyers, and consultants with experience in the field of intellectual property, Viet An Law believes that we would provide customers with the best services related to copyright, the fastest, most convenient, and most reasonable cost.