Register copyright for song in Vietnam

Music in general and songs in particular is one of the indispensable spiritual food of people in life. Along with the continuous development of society, music also develops. Songs appear more and more and are presented in certain physical forms such as images, tapes, discs, recordings, prints of music and lyrics, etc. To avoid copying, taking If you steal the author’s idea about the song, the author should register copyright for song in Vietnam with the Copyright Office to protect his/her legal rights.

What is song copyright?

According to the provisions of the current Intellectual Property Law, musical works are one of the subjects protected by copyright. Pursuant to Article 6 of Decree 17/2023/ND-CP stipulating that a musical work is a work expressed in the form of musical notes or other musical characters, regardless of performance. Accordingly, a song copyright is a copyright to a musical work.

Dossier to register a copyright for a song?

• Declaration of copyright registration (according to the corresponding form in Circular 08/2023/TT-BVHTTDL dated June 2, 2023, Circular providing for forms in copyright and related rights registration activities).

Individuals and organizations submit copyright registration dossiers using the copyright registration declaration form; The declaration must be made in Vietnamese and signed by the author himself, the copyright owner or the person authorized to submit the dossier, with full information about the applicant, the author, and the copyright owner; abstract of the work’s content, time, place and form of publication; commitment to responsibility for the information stated in the application.

• 02 copies of specific copyrighted works: 02 printed copies of music + lyrics or phonogram (recorded) in case of recording;

01 copy is kept at the Copyright Office, 01 copy is stamped with the registration certificate number and returned to the holder of the registration certificate.

• Power of attorney or authorization contract, if the applicant is an authorized person, a form prepared or provided by Viet An Law; In case the authorizing party is an individual, the power of attorney must be authenticated according to the provisions of law.
• Documents evidencing the right to file, if the applicant enjoys that right of another person through inheritance, transfer, assignment;
• Written consent of co-authors, if the work has co-authors;
• Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright or related rights are jointly owned.

Note: The regulatory documents must be made in Vietnamese; if it is done in a foreign language, it must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized/certified. The documents enclosed with the dossiers, if they are copies, must be notarized or certified.

Duration for granting a copyright registration certificate for a song

Within 1 month from the date of receipt of a valid dossier, the Copyright Office shall be responsible for granting a Certificate of Copyright Registration (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate) to the applicant. In case of refusal, the Copyright Office must notify in writing the applicant.

Documents you need to provide to Viet An Law when choosing the copyright registration service of Viet An Law include:

• 02 Notarized copies of the author’s identity card/ people’s identity card;
• 02 Originals of the work 02 prints of music + lyrics or phonogram (recorded) in case of recording;
• 01 Notarized copy of Enterprise Registration Certificate (if the owner is an organization);
• In case the authorizing party is an individual, the power of attorney must be certified according to the provisions of law.
• The contract of sale of rights and written consent for the registration of the derivative work.

Copyright registration process at Viet An Law Firm

• Step 1: Customers provide the above information to Viet An Law.
• Step 2: Viet An Law prepares documents and sends clients to sign.
• Step 3: The client returns the file to Viet An Law.
• Step 4: Viet An’s representative submits a dossier at the Copyright Office.
• Step 5: After at least 1 month from the date of valid application, Viet An Law receives the results of returning the customer and liquidating the service.

Viet An Law is a reputable intellectual property representative organization on intellectual property legal advice. If you have any related questions, please contact Viet An Law for the fastest support.