(English – Tiếng Anh)

DECREE 17/2023/ND-CP

April 26, 2023

Detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding copyright and related rights

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the November 29, 2005 Law on Intellectual Property; the June 19, 2009 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property; the June 14, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property; and the June 16, 2022 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property;

At the proposal of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

The Government promulgates the Decree detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Intellectual Property regarding copyright and related rights.

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

1. This Decree details a number of articles of, and provides measures to implement, the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property; the 2009 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property; the 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Insurance Business and the Law on Intellectual Property; and the 2022 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property (below collectively referred to as the Law on Intellectual Property) regarding copyright and related rights.

2. This Decree does not provide royalty levels and payment methods in case the State acts as the representative of copyright holders and related rights holders or as the representative in the management of copyright and related rights. Cases subject to limitations on copyright and related rights must comply with Article 35 of this Decree.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Decree applies to:

1. Authors, copyright holders, performers and related rights holders in accordance with the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Other organizations and individuals carrying out activities related to copyright and related rights.

3. The competent state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Posthumous work means a work that is first published after its author’s death.

2. Anonymous work means a work that is published with an unknown author or with its author’s name (birth name or pseudonym) not yet identified.

3. Fixation means the expression in written languages, other characters, lines, three-dimensional configurations, layouts, colors, sounds or images or the reproduction of sounds or images in a certain material form through which a work can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated.

4. Original of a work means a version presented in any material form on which the creation of such work has been first fixed.

5. Copy of a work means a version which is directly or indirectly reproduced by any means or in any form from the whole or part of such work.

6. Phonogram or video recording means the fixation of sounds and/or images of a performance or other sounds and/or images or the fixation of the reproduction of not fixed sounds and/or images in association with a cinematographic work or another work created by a similar method. A phonogram or video recording may be a recording made for the purpose of disseminating news on radio or television or in cyberspace; a recording of an art performance; or a recording of activities of one or more than one person or description of events, circumstances or reality shows.

7. Copy of a phonogram or video recording means a version which is directly or indirectly reproduced by any means or in any form from the whole or part of a phonogram or video recording.

8. Publication of a fixed work or performance or a phonogram or video recording means the distribution of copies of such work, performance, phonogram or video recording with the consent of the copyright holder or related rights holder in any form and in a reasonable quantity enough for public access, depending on the nature of such work, performance, phonogram or video recording. A fine-art work or an architectural work will be regarded as having been published if it is located at a public place with the consent of the copyright holder for public access and reproduction.

The performance of a dramatic or musical work; showing of a cinematographic work; public reading of a literary work; broadcasting of a literary or artistic work; display of a fine-art work; or building of a construction work based on an architectural work is not regarded as the publication of a work.

9. Work of a foreign organization or individual first published in Vietnam means a work that is not yet published in any country prior to its publication in Vietnam.

10. Work of a foreign organization or individual simultaneously published in Vietnam means a work which is published in Vietnam within 30 days after it is first published in any country.

11. Rebroadcasting means the transmission for rebroadcasting or relay of a program by a broadcasting organization.

12. Encrypted program-carrying satellite signal means a program-carrying satellite signal transmitted in which audio or visual features or both have been altered or changed so as to prevent those who have no lawful decrypting divices for satellite signals from illegally recording the program transmitted in such signal.

13. Other material benefits means benefits which authors, copyright holders and related rights holders are entitled to, in addition to royalties, such as prizes, gift books, invitation tickets to performances or showing of cinematographic works or displays or exhibitions of works.

14. Element of infringement means an element created from an act of infringing upon copyright or related rights.

15. Act under consideration means an act suspected of infringing upon copyright or related rights and brought to examination in order to conclude whether or not it has infringed upon copyright or related rights.

16. Subject matter under consideration means a subject suspected of infringing upon copyright or related rights and brought to examination in order to conclude whether or not it/he/she has infringed upon copyright or related rights.

Article 4. The State’s policies on copyright and related rights

1. Providing financial support for purchase of copyright for state agencies and organizations that are tasked to popularize works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of ideological, scientific, educational and artistic values for public interests, thus contributing to socio-economic development.

2. Prioritizing investment in training and further training of civil servants and public employees engaged in the management and enforcement of copyright and related rights protection from central to local levels.

3. Prioritizing investment in and application of science and technology and digital transformation to the state management of copyright and related rights protection.

4. Stepping up communications to raise the public awareness about and sense of compliance with the law on copyright and related rights; intensifying education in knowledge about copyright and related rights at schools and other education institutions suitable to each grade of education and level of training.

5. Mobilizing social resources for investment in and provision of financial support for activities of promoting creativity in, and exploiting, transferring technologies, and promoting the development of, cultural industries, building the capacity of the copyright and related rights protection system to meet socio-economic development and international integration requirements.

6. Providing incentives for organizations, individuals and enterprises to carry out activities promoting the development of cultural industries eligible for copyright and related rights protection; promoting the transformation of easy-to-access formats for people with disabilities in accordance with law, thus facilitating access to works by people with disabilities.

Article 5. Responsibilities for and contents of state management of copyright and related rights

1. The Government shall perform the unified state management of copyright and related rights.

2. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall take responsibility to the Government for performing the state management of copyright and related rights, having the following tasks and powers:

a/ To formulate and promulgate according to its competence, or submit to competent authorities for promulgation, and direct and organize the implementation of, mechanisms, policies, legal documents, strategies, master plans, plans, programs and schemes on copyright and related rights protection and development of cultural industries eligible for copyright and related rights protection;

b/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with others in, taking measures to protect lawful rights and interests of organizations, individuals, the State and society in the field of copyright and related rights protection;

c/ To manage and exploit copyright to works, related rights to performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with the State acting as the owner representative or the management representative; to acquire copyright and related rights of organizations and individuals to the State in accordance with law;

d/ To approve the use of anonymous works; published works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of Vietnamese organizations and individuals in case it is impossible to find or identify copyright holders or related rights holders;

dd/ To guide the provision, cooperation, placement of orders, use and guarantee of copyright to works and related rights to performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts;

e/ To approve the translation of foreign-language works into Vietnamese and the reproduction of works for lecturing or research not for commercial purposes in accordance with the Annexes to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works;

g/ To manage activities of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights and copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations;

h/ To approve royalty levels and payment methods formulated by organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights;

i/ To grant, re-grant, renew or invalidate copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates;

k/ To compile and manage the National Register of copyright and related rights; to certify copyright;

l/ To publish and distribute the Yearbook on registration of copyright and related rights;

m/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, managing and directing the scientific research, training, further training and development of human resources in professional qualifications and skills on copyright and related rights; to make copyright and related rights-related commendation;

n/ To direct, guide, urge and organize the education, public communication and dissemination of knowledge, laws, mechanisms and policies on copyright and related rights; to provide professional guidance on and further training in copyright and related rights;

o/ To organize the making of statistics on copyright and related rights and cultural industries eligible for copyright and related rights protection;

p/ To organize the activities of information and public communication about copyright and related rights and cultural industries eligible for copyright and related rights protection;

q/ To manage and organize the performance of copyright and related rights assessment; to grant, re-grant or revoke copyright and related rights assessor cards or copyright and related rights assessment organization certificates;

r/ To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related competent state agencies in, inspecting, examining, settling complaints and denunciations, and handling violations of the law on copyright and related rights;

s/ To carry out international cooperation on copyright and related rights; to negotiate, conclude or accede to, and organize the implementation of, treaties on copyright and related rights; to propose the resolution of disputes over copyright and related rights between Vietnam and other countries;

t/ To perform other tasks assigned by the Government.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies shall, within the ambit of their respective tasks and powers, coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in performing the state management of copyright and related rights.

4. People’s Committees of provinces and centrally run cities (below referred to as provincial-level People’s Committees) shall perform the state management of copyright and related rights in localities, having the following tasks and powers:

a/ To formulate and promulgate according to their competence, and organize the implementation of, mechanisms, policies, legal documents, strategies, master plans, plans, programs and schemes on copyright and related rights protection in localities;

b/ To direct, guide, urge, and organize the implementation of, the education about, public communication and popularization of knowledge, laws, mechanisms and policies on copyright and related rights in localities; to direct scientific research into, provide professional guidance on, and organize professional training and further training in, copyright and related rights in localities;

c/ To organize activities on copyright and related rights protection in localities; to take measures to protect lawful rights and interests of the State, organizations or individuals in relation to copyright and related rights; to organize the development of cultural industries in localities under Article 4 of this Decree;

d/ To guide and support organizations and individuals in carrying out procedures on copyright and related rights in localities;

dd/ To inspect, examine, and handle according to their competence complaints, denunciations and violations of the law on copyright and related rights in localities;

e/ To perform other tasks and exercise other powers in accordance with law.

5. The Copyright Office of Vietnam is the specialized agency of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism which shall assist the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in performing the function of state management of copyright and related rights.

Chapter II. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Section 1. COPYRIGHT

Article 6. Types of works eligible for copyright protection 

1. Literary works, scientific works, textbooks, teaching courses and other works presented in written languages or other characters as specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property:

a/ Literary works, scientific works and other works presented in written languages include novels, novellas, short stories; notes, chronicles, essays, memoirs; poems, epics; scripts; cultural, literary, artistic and scientific research works, and other articles;

b/ Textbook means a work that is published to concretize requirements of the general education program and is approved and permitted by the Minister of Education and Training for use as official teaching materials at general education institutions;

c/ Teaching courses mean main teaching, learning or research materials that have contents appropriate to training or further training programs and are approved and selected by heads of higher education institutions or vocational education institutions or approved by a competent state management agency in accordance with law;

d/ Work presented in other characters means a work presented in Braille for the blind, shorthand signs and other similar signs instead of written languages, which can be understood and reproduced in different forms by interested parties.  

2. Lectures, addresses and other sermons referred to at Point b, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works presented in spoken languages and required to be fixed in a certain material form.

3. Press works referred to at Point c, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works with independent contents and completed structure, which take the following forms: reportage, quick note, news report, interview, feature, investigative story, commentary, editorial, treatise and memoir, and other forms, which are published or broadcast on the print, audio, visual or online media or other media.

4. Musical works referred to at Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works presented in the form of musical notes in musical pieces or other musical characters, regardless of whether or not they are performed.

5. Dramatic works referred to at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works of various performing arts, including traditional operetta (cheo), classical drama (tuong), reformed opera (cai luong), dance, puppetry, contemporary dance, ballet, play, opera, folk drama, physical theater, musical play, circus, comedy and variety shows, and other genres of performing arts.

6. Cinematographic works and works created by a method analogous to cinematography referred to at Point e, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works with contents and presented in successive motion images or images created by technical or technological devices, with or without sounds and other effects in adherence to the principles of the cinematographic language. Static images taken from a cinematographic work constitute part of such cinematographic work.

Cinematographic works exclude video recordings made for the purpose of disseminating news on radio or television or in cyberspace; art performances and video games; and video recordings of activities of one or more than one person or description of events, circumstances or reality shows.

7. Fine-art works referred to at Point g, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works presented by lines, colors, three-dimensional configurations or layouts, including:

a/ Paintings: lacquer paintings, oil paintings, silk paintings, pigment paintings, watercolor paintings, poonah-paper paintings, and paintings on other materials;

b/ Graphic arts: carved-wood, carved-metal, carved-rubber and carved-plaster paintings, monolith, lithography, screen printing, placards, graphic designs, and graphic arts on other materials;

c/ Sculpture: statues, monuments, reliefs, monumental and symbol blocks;

d/ Installation art and other forms of presenting contemporary arts.

Works of paintings, sculpture, installation art and other forms of contemporary arts are available in sole copies. A work of graphic arts may be presented in as many as 50 copies which are ordinarily numbered and bear the author’s signature.

8. Applied-art works referred to at Point g, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works presented by lines, colors, three-dimensional configurations or layouts with useful features, which can be associated with useful objects and produced by hand or on an industrial scale, including graphic designs (expression of logo, identity system and packaging of products; expression of characters); fashion designs; fine-art designs associated with product designs; and fine-art interior designs and interior and exterior decorations. Applied-art works are presented in the form of fine-art product designs, cannot be easily created by persons with average knowledge in the relevant field, and exclude exterior designs which are compulsory for products to function properly.

9. Photographic works referred to at Point h, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works showing images of the worldview on photosensitive materials or other media in which images are created or can be created by chemical, electronic or other technical methods. Photographic works may be accompanied by captions or not.

10. Architectural works referred to at Point i, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works of architectural type, including:

a/ Architectural design drawings of construction works or a complex of construction works, interior and landscapes;

b/ Architectural works.

11. Sketches, plans, maps and drawings referred to at Point k, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property include sketches, plans, maps and drawings related to topography, and various types of scientific and architectural works.

12. Folk literature and art works referred to at Point l, Clause 1, Article 14 and Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ Folk literature and art works referred to at Point a, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property in different genres of the art of words;

b/ Folk literature and art works referred to at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property in different genres of performing arts such as traditional operetta (cheo), classical drama (tuong), reformed opera (cai luong), puppetry, song, folk song, music melody; dance, folk dance, play, folk game, folk festival, village festival, and other folk rituals.

Article 7. Derivative works

Derivative works specified in Clause 2, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean works created on the basis of one or more than one existing work, including:

1. Translated works, that are works presented in languages other than languages of original works.

2. Adapted works, that are works based on contents of original works and may be changed from one genre to another or modified in the same genre, including also modifications in the arrangement of the works that make the works suitable to different conditions of the exploitation or use.

3. Compiled works, that are works compiled from part or the whole of existing works by certain themes and possibly accompanied with commentaries or evaluations.

4. Annotated works, that are works created from the clarification of meanings and contents of words, sentences or events, classic references and geographical names referred to in the original works.

5. Selected works, that are works selected from the existing works of one or more than one author by time or certain themes, including also anthologies and selected works.

6. Modified works, that are works recompiled, rewritten, recomposed or presented in forms different from those of original works for certain purposes or to meet certain requirements in specific cases.

7. Transformed works, that are works transformed from one genre to another or those presented by artistic techniques different from those of original works of the same genre.               

Article 8. Subject matters not covered by copyright protection

1. News of the day as mere items of press information referred to in Clause 1, Article 15 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean daily news briefs, facts and figures that are merely of news reporting nature and contain no creative elements.

2. Administrative documents referred to in Clause 2, Article 15 of the Law on Intellectual Property include documents issued by state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, and people’s armed forces units.

3. Processes, systems, operation methods, concepts, principles and data specified in Clause 3, Article 15 of the Law on Intellectual Property are construed as follows:

a/ Process means an order that is compulsory to perform a job;

b/ System means a set of elements or units of the same type or with the same function which are correlated or closely interconnected in a uniform whole;

c/ Method means a way by which natural and social phenomena are studied and viewed;

d/ Concept means thinking reflected in the abstract form of things and phenomena of the reality and relations between them;  

dd/ Principle means a basic rule or law of general nature that controls how a series of phenomena happen, or an important initial idea or theory that serves as a ground for developing other theories.

Article 9. Copyright to lectures, addresses and other sermons

In case an author fixes by himself/herself his/her lectures, addresses and other sermons in the form of phonogram or video recording, he/she is entitled to copyright to such lectures, addresses and sermons and, at the same time, acts as the holder of the rights to such phonogram or video recording under Point b, Clause 1, Article 44 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 10. Copyright to cinematographic works

1. Persons specified at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 21 of the Law on Intellectual Property may have their names attached to cinematographic works or acknowledged when such cinematographic works are published or used. Particularly, due to how a cinematographic work is used, it is not necessary to acknowledge the names of all actors, actresses and persons performing other creative jobs in the making of this work as specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 21 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. In case of an agreement on titling or modification of a cinematographic work as specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 21 of the Law on Intellectual Property, the screenwriter and director may not abuse their moral rights to obstruct the titling and modification of such work to be suitable to conditions on creation, exploitation and use of such work.

Authors of, and holders of copyright to, scripts and musical works used in cinematographic works may only prohibit acts of distorting their scripts and musical works or modifying or mutilating their scripts and musical works to the detriment of their honor and reputation.

3. The right to lease original cinematographic works or copies thereof specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property is a right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or granted by copyright holders to other persons for exercise for the exploitation or use of such works or copies for a definite term.  

Article 11. Copyright to architectural works

1. Authors who are concurrently copyright holders are entitled to the moral rights provided in Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property and the economic rights provided in Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Authors who are not concurrently copyright holders are entitled to the moral rights provided in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property; copyright holders are entitled to the rights provided in Clause 3, Article 19, and Article 20, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

3. Authors and organizations and individuals that invest finances and physical- technical facilities to create architectural works may reach agreement on modification of these works.

Article 12. Copyright to computer programs

1. Authors who are concurrently copyright holders are entitled to the moral rights provided in Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property and the economic rights provided in Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Authors who are not concurrently copyright holders are entitled to the moral rights provided in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property; copyright holders are entitled to the rights provided in Clause 3, Article 19, and Article 20, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

3. An organization or individual that has the lawful right to use a copy of a computer program may correct errors on such copy in case of necessity.

4. The right to lease computer programs specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property is a right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or granted by copyright holders to other persons for exercise for the exploitation or use of such programs for a definite term.  

5. The right to lease computer programs does not apply in case such computer programs are not main subject matters for lease as specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property, such as computer programs for normal operation of means of transport or other machines and technical equipment.

Article 13. Copyright to folk literature and art works

1. Folk literature and art works referred to at Points a, b and c, Clause 1, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall be protected regardless of their fixation.

2. The use of folk literature and art works referred to in Clause 2, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the collection, research into, performance and introduction of true values of such folk literature and art works.

3. Reference to sources of folk literature and art works referred to in Clause 2, Article 23 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the indication of the origin and geographical areas inhabited by population communities where such folk literature and art works are created.

Article 14. Moral rights

1. The right of authors to title their works provided in Clause 1, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property does not apply to works translated from one language into another. The titling of works must not violate Clause 2, Article 7 of the Law on Intellectual Property and relevant laws.

2. The right of authors to have their real names or pseudonyms acknowledged on their works provided in Clause 2, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property applies even when such works are used as derivative works. When derivative works are published or used, it is required to acknowledge real names or pseudonyms of authors of such works.

3. The right of authors to publish works or authorize other persons to publish works provided in Clause 3, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the right of the author or copyright holder of a work or another individual or organization authorized by the author or copyright holder to make such work available to the public in any form and in a reasonable quantity of copies for public access, depending on the nature of the work.

Article 15. The right to perform works to the public

The right of authors to perform their works to the public directly or indirectly by using phonograms or video recordings or by whatever technical modes at places accessible by the public even though the audience cannot freely choose the time of performance and parts of works to be performed provided at Point b, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property is construed as follows:

1. For works presented in languages and works expressed in written languages specified at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property, it is the right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or authorized by copyright holders to other persons for exercise to present or display such works for public access and auditory perception even though the audience cannot freely choose the time of presentation or display and parts of works to be presented or displayed, including also perception from outside the space where the presentation or display is made via screens, loudspeakers or similar technical devices.

2. For musical works specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property, it is the right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or authorized by copyright holders to other persons for exercise to perform such works for public access and auditory perception or perform such works on stage to the public even though the audience cannot freely choose the time of performance and parts of works to be performed, including also perception from outside the space where the performance is made via screens, loudspeakers or similar technical devices.

3. For cinematographic works specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property, it is the right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or authorized by copyright holders to other persons for exercise to show such works for public access and perception via technical media even though the audience cannot freely choose the time of showing and parts of works to be shown.

4. For fine-art works and photographic works specified at Points g and h, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property, it is the right exclusively exercised by copyright holders or authorized by copyright holders to other persons for exercise to exhibit, display or show such works to the public so that the latter can view original works or copies thereof.

Article 16. Rights of co-authors and copyright co-holders  

1. Co-authors who are concurrently copyright co-holders may reach agreement on exercise of moral rights and economic rights to their works under Clause 3, Article 12a of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. In case co-authors are not concurrently copyright co-holders, co-authors may reach agreement on exercise of moral rights while copyright co-holders may reach agreement on exercise of economic rights to their works under Clause 3, Article 45 and Clause 3, Article 47 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

3. Co-authors and copyright co-holders may not object to the permission for exploitation and use of their works by normal methods and for common interests.

4. One of copyright co-holders may declare in writing the waiver of its/his/her rights to a work specified in Clause 3, Article 19 and Clause 1, Article 20 of the Law on Intellectual Property and notify such to the other copyright co-holders. The rights waived by the copyright co-holder shall be automatically transferred to the other copyright co-holders.

Article 17. Term of copyright protection for posthumous works

The term of copyright protection for posthumous works must comply with Article 27 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 18. Copyright holders

Copyright holders defined in Article 36 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

1. Vietnamese organizations and individuals.

2. Foreign organizations and individuals that have works created and presented in certain material forms in Vietnam.

3. Foreign organizations and individuals that have works first published in Vietnam.

4. Foreign organizations and individuals that have works protected in Vietnam under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

Section 2. RELATED RIGHTS

Article 19. Rights of performers

1. The right to direct reproduction of performances which have been fixed on phonograms or video recordings as provided at Point b, Clause 3, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the right of the rights holder of a performance to exclusively make or authorize another person to make other copies from these phonograms or video recordings.

2. The right to indirect reproduction of performances which have been fixed on phonograms or video recordings as provided at Point b, Clause 3, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the right of the rights holder of a performance to exclusively make or authorize another person to make other copies from sources other than these phonograms and video recordings, such as copies from broadcasts, electronic communication networks,  telecommunications networks, the Internet, and similar media.

3. The right to public communication of unfixed performances as provided at Point c, Clause 3, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the right of the rights holder to exclusively distribute or authorize another person to distribute an unfixed performance to the public by whatever technical mode other than broadcasting.

Article 20. Use of broadcasts

1. Rights holders of broadcasts specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 44 of the Law on Intellectual Property mean broadcasting organizations that invest their finances and physical-technical facilities in broadcasting activities, unless otherwise agreed upon.

2. When using works, phonograms or video recordings for the production of broadcasts, broadcasting organizations shall perform their obligations toward copyright holders and related rights holders in accordance with law.

3. Organizations and individuals that relay, rebroadcast or transmit via cables, electronic communication networks, telecommunications networks, the Internet or in any technical media the broadcasts of other broadcasting organizations under Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 31 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall comply with agreements and relevant regulations. Any modification, mutilation or supplementation of broadcasts of other broadcasting organizations for rebroadcasting or transmission via cables, electric communication networks, telecommunications networks, the Internet or in any technical media shall be agreed with the rights holders of such broadcasts.

Section 3. LICENSING OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS, USE OF WORKS, PERFORMANCES, PHONOGRAMS, VIDEO RECORDINGS AND BROADCASTS IN A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC CASES

Article 21. Licensing of copyright and related rights

Licensing of copyright and related rights provided in Article 47 of the Law on Intellectual Property covers the permission by copyright holders or related rights holders for other organizations and individuals to exclusively or jointly use one, several or all of the rights provided in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 19; Clause 1, Article 20; Clause 3, Article 29; Clause 1, Article 30; and Clause 1, Article 31, of the Law on Intellectual Property under the conditions on use duration, space and scope. 

Article 22. Use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of which the State acts as the representative of copyright holders and related rights holders

1. Organizations and individuals that use works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of which the State acts as the representative of copyright holders and related rights holders as specified in Clause 1, Article 42 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall respect the moral rights provided in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 and Clause 2, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property, and perform the following obligations regarding the economic rights:

a/ To ask for permission for use and pay royalty in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 19; Clause 1, Article 20; Clause 3, Article 29; Clause 1, Article 30; and Clause 1, Article 31, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ To pay royalty without having to ask for permission for use in the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ Neither to ask for permission for use nor pay royalty in the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 20; Clause 1, Article 25; Article 25a; Clause 5, Article 29; Clause 3, Article 30; Clause 3, Article 31; and Clause 1, Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Organizations and individuals shall perform the obligations specified in Clause 1 of this Article toward:

a/ Agencies that use state budget funds to place orders, assign tasks or organize bidding for creation of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts in the case specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 42 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the cases specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 42 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

3. An organization or individual that asks for permission for use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the representative of the copyright holder and related rights holder in the case specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article shall:

a/ Submit a dossier directly or by post to an agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ The dossier must comprise:

A declaration-cum-request for permission for use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the representative of the copyright holder or related rights holder (made according to Form No. 01 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

A use plan;

A copy of the document proving the payment of the charge for permission for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the representative of the copyright holder or related rights holder (in case the charge is paid by post or directly into the recipient’s bank account);

A (notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized) power of attorney, in case the dossier is submitted by an authorized party.

c/ Within 30 days after receiving a valid dossier, an agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall send a notice of royalty payment enclosed with a royalty estimate to the dossier submitter;

d/ The organization or individual shall pay royalty according to the royalty estimate within 5 working days (and receive a copy of the royalty receipt);

dd/ Within 5 working days after receiving royalty, the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall issue a written permission for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the representative of the copyright holder or related rights holder;

e/ The organization or individual permitted to use the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast shall submit to examination and supervision by a competent state agency concerning the use of such work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast;

g/ Cases in which the dossier of request for permission for use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast is rejected:

The dossier is not complete as required under Point b of this Clause;

The organization or individual fails to pay royalty according to the notice of royalty payment though the time limit specified at Point d of this Clause has expired.

4. The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall acquire copyright and related rights from the organizations and individuals specified at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 42 of the Law on Intellectual Property in accordance with law.

5. Upon detecting acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article, state agencies, organizations and individuals may request competent state agencies to handle such acts in accordance with law.

Article 23. Use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative

1. Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative specified in Clause 2, Article 42 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts for which it is impossible to find or identify copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders, which are those published without any information about their authors, performers, copyright holders or related rights holders or with information about their authors, performers, copyright holders or related rights holders being Vietnamese organizations or individuals that, however, are impossible to be found or contacted;

b/ Anonymous works, which are those published with unknown authors or with their authors’ names (birth names or pseudonyms) not yet identified.

Authors, performers, copyright holders, related rights holders, copyright co-holders and related rights co-holders specified at Points a and b of this Clause are below collectively referred to as rights holders.

2. Organizations and individuals that wish to use works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall submit dossiers directly or by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism after exerting every effort to search or contact the rights holders but all in vain.     

3. A dossier of request for permission for use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative must comprise:

a/ A declaration-cum-request for permission for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative (made according to Form No. 02 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A use plan;

c/ Documents proving efforts exerted to search or contact the rights holder under Clause 2 of this Article, including:

A document proving the search for information about the rights holder from the Yearbook on registration of copyright and related rights on the website on copyright and related rights;

A notice of search for the rights holder sent to the organization acting as the collective representative of copyright and related rights in the same field with the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast requested to be used, and after 30 days from the date such notice is sent but no reply is received or the received reply gives no information about the rights holder.

In case there is no organization acting as the collective representative of copyright and related rights in the same field with the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast requested to be used, such notice shall be sent to at least 2 organizations and individuals having used or currently using such work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast (if any);

A document proving the use of equipment for searching information about the rights holder on the telecommunications network and the Internet.

d/ A copy of the document proving the payment of the charge for permission for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative (in case the charge is paid by post or directly into the recipient’s bank account);

dd/ A (notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized) power of attorney, in case the dossier is submitted by an authorized party.

4. After 20 days from the date of receiving a valid dossier, the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall:

a/ Publicly post contents of the request for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast on the website on copyright and related rights for continued notification of the search for, and receipt of, information about the rights holder;

b/ In case the rights holder or the authorized party (if any) objects to the request contents, it/he/she shall send a written objection enclosed with documents and evidences proving that it/he/she is the rights holder to the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article. Such documents and evidences include:

Evidences proving that it/he/she is the rights holder as specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 77 of this Decree;

The original or a notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized copy of the contract on copyright or related rights creation, transfer, donation, purchase and sale, contribution as capital or licensing; or the document on task assignment, inheritance or takeover or a similar document in case the rights holder is the copyright or related rights licensee, heir or taking-over party as specified by law;

A (notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized) power of attorney, in case the objecting party is an authorized party.

c/ Within 30 days after the request contents are publicly posted under Point a of this Clause, if the rights holder or its/his/her authorized party (if any) sends no written objection, it/he/she shall be regarded as having waived the right to objection.

5. Upon the expiration of the time limit specified at Point c, Clause 4 of this Article, the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall examine the dossier and notify dossier processing results in the following cases:

a/ Within 30 days after receiving a written objection and when it is impossible to identify the rights holder in accordance with regulations on assumption of copyright and related rights and other relevant regulations, such agency shall notify dossier processing results in writing to the rights holder and the dossier submitter for the latter to directly reach an agreement on use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast in accordance with law;

b/ If receiving no written objection or having received such objection but it is impossible to identify the rights holder in accordance with regulations on assumption of copyright and related rights and other relevant regulations and the dossier does not fall into the case of dossier rejection specified at Point a or c, Clause 7 of this Article, within 30 days, such agency shall send a notice of royalty payment enclosed with a royalty estimate to the dossier submitter.

The organization or individual shall pay royalty according to the royalty estimate within 5 working days after receiving the notice of royalty payment (and receive a copy of the royalty receipt);

c/ Within 5 working days after receiving royalty under Point b of this Clause, the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall issue a written permission for use of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of which the State acts as the copyright and related rights management representative and concurrently publicly notify it on the website on copyright and related rights.

The permitted use must be definite-term use and may be considered for extension when the dossier submitter submits a written request therefor.

6. Organizations and individuals whose dossiers are approved shall pay royalty and submit to examination and supervision by competent state agencies regarding the use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts according to such dossiers.

7. Cases in which a dossier of request for permission for use of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast is rejected:

a/ The dossier is not complete as required under Clause 3 of this Article;

b/ It is possible to identify the rights holder under Point b, Clause 4 of this Article;

c/ The rights holder, before becoming unfindable or uncontactable, declares non-permission for use of its/his/her work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast;

d/ The time limit specified at Point b, Clause 5 of this Article has expired but the dossier submitter still fails to pay royalty according to the notice of royalty payment.

8. Responsibility for royalty management:

a/ The agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall collect royalties under Point b, Clause 5 of this Article and open a bank account for royalty payment for all rights holders that are impossible to be found or contacted;

b/ In case it is possible to find or contact holders of rights to works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts permitted for use in accordance with law, the agency specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall request the use thereof to be stopped and transfer the collected royalties to such rights holders after subtracting management and search expenses in accordance with law;

c/ If it is still impossible to find or contact rights holders within 5 years after the search information is publicly notified on the website on copyright and related rights, the collected royalties shall be used for creativity promotion, public communication about and intensification of enforcement of copyright and related rights protection in accordance with law after subtracting management and search expenses in accordance with law.

9. Upon detecting acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in this Article, state agencies, organizations and individuals may request competent state agencies to handle such acts in accordance with law.

Article 24. Use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts belonging to the public

1. Organizations and individuals that use works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts belonging to the public as specified in Article 43 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall respect the moral rights specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 and Clause 2, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Upon detecting acts of infringing upon the moral rights specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4, Article 19 and Clause 2, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property to works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with expired protection term, state agencies, organizations and individuals with related rights and obligations may request infringers to terminate their infringing acts and make public apologies and corrections; may file complaints or denunciations and request competent state agencies to handle such acts in accordance with law. 

3. Political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-political-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, and organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights may request competent state agencies to protect the moral rights to their members’ works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with expired protection term.

Chapter III. COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS

Section 1. EXCEPTION CASES IN WHICH COPYRIGHT IS NOT REGARDED AS INFRINGED UPON, EXCEPTION CASES IN WHICH RELATED RIGHTS ARE NOT REGARDED AS INFRINGED UPON

Article 25. Reasonable reproduction of part of works by reproduction devices

1. Reasonable reproduction of part of works by reproduction devices for personal scientific research or learning and not for commercial purposes under Points b and e, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property means an act of reasonably reproducing no more than one copy of part of a work.

2. Reproduction devices specified at Points a, b and e, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property are those having the reproduction function with all or some of their related components automated on the basis of service charge payment or non-payment by any persons not belonging to organizations that own, possess or commercially operate such devices.

3. For works presented in written languages, act of reasonable reproduction of a work specified in Clause 1 of this Article means an act of reproduction by the photocopying or photographing method or a similar method of no more than 10% of total pages or total bytes or total words of the printed work or length of contents of the printed work, for works provided in the form of pageless e-printed works.

Acts of reasonable reproduction by reproduction devices specified in this Clause must be those independent from every organization or individual carrying out the reproduction and any repetition is a separate reproduction of the same work.   

4. Organizations and individuals that wish to reproduce part of works presented in written languages at a percentage higher than that specified in Clause 3 of this Article shall obtain permission of copyright holders and pay royalty and other material benefits (if any) to the copyright holders of such works.

Article 25. Reasonable use of works

1. The reasonable use of works for the illustration purpose in lectures or unfixed performances for the teaching purpose specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ The use of works for the illustration purpose in lectures or unfixed performances must be only within classes of education institutions and ensure that only students and teachers/lecturers in these classes can access such works.

In case of use of works in examination questions and answers for testing knowledge and skills in the national education system, such works may be used according to the level of necessity.

b/ The use of works does not cause unreasonable prejudice to lawful interests of authors or copyright holders.

2. The reasonable use of works for the illustration purpose in publications, fixed performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts for the lecturing purpose specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property must be within education institutions and subject to conditions similar to those specified in Article 28 of this Decree.

Article 27. Use of works in official-duty activities of state agencies

The use of works in official-duty activities of state agencies specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property means reproduction, adaptation, exhibition or display of such works by cadres and civil servants for the performance of official-duty activities of such state agencies in accordance with the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants.

Article 28. Reasonable recitation of works

The reasonable recitation of works specified at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property must fully satisfy the following conditions:

1. Recited parts of works are used only for the purpose of introducing, commenting on or clarifying matters dwelt upon in the works.

2. Recited parts of works do not cause an unreasonable prejudice to lawful interests of authors or copyright holders of the works and are appropriate to the nature and characteristics of types of the works used for recitation.

3. The recitation is accompanied by indications to origin of works and names of authors, in case the authors’ names are acknowledged in the works used for recitation.

Article 29. Use of works in library activities not for commercial purposes

1. Reproduction of a work archived in a library specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property means making of no more than 3 copies of such work for preservation on the condition that these copies must be marked as archival copies for limited access in accordance with the library and archive laws.

2. The reasonable reproduction of part of works by reproduction devices for use by other persons for the research or learning purpose as specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property must comply with Article 25 of this Decree and include information on copyright shown on reproduced copies in accordance with law or include clear notes that the works are eligible for copyright protection in case no copyright information is found on reproduced copies.

3. The reproduction or transmission of preserved works for inter-library loan via the computer network as specified at Point e, Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Intellectual Property requires the application of measures to prevent acts of infringing upon copyright and must ensure that copies of such works are not made available to the public in digital form outside the premises of libraries lawfully using such copies.

4. The reproduction devices installed within the premises of libraries must bear notes that making of copies must comply with the copyright law.

Article 30. Exception cases in which people with disabilities are not treated as copyright infringers    

1. People with disabilities specified at Point m, Clause 1, Article 25, and Article 25a, of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ Visually impaired people;

b/ People with print disability and people with other disabilities that render them unable to access and read works by normal methods are construed as those currently suffering unrestorable reduction or loss of the ability to perceive or read that renders them unable to read printed works like normal people or those who are currently unable to hold or make physical moves on books or similar printed works or to move their eyes to read at a normal level.

2. Copies in easy-to-access formats specified in Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property are copies of works presented in Braille or phonograms or digitally transcribed into speeches or sign languages or in any other formats or presented by whatever methods to ensure convenient access to works by people with disabilities.

3. Organizations that satisfy the Government-specified conditions in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property are not-for-profit organizations and state agencies engaged in activities or having the function or task of providing services to people with disabilities in the fields of education, training, information access and adaptive reading by appropriate methods, including:

a/ Funds in support of people with disabilities specified in the Law on People with Disabilities;

b/ Inclusive education development support centers specified in the Law on People with Disabilities;

c/ Establishments caring for people with disabilities, including establishments providing services in support of people with disabilities, centers supporting people with disabilities living on their own, and other establishments caring for people with disabilities specified in the Law on People with Disabilities;

d/ Organizations of people with disabilities and organizations for people with disabilities specified in the Law on People with Disabilities;

dd/ Schools for people with disabilities specified in the Law on Education;

e/ Libraries serving people with disabilities specified in the Law on Libraries;

g/ Other organizations that satisfy the above conditions and are approved by competent state agencies.

4. Approval of organizations under Point g, Clause 3 of this Article:

a/ Organizations other than those specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd and e, Clause 3 of this Article that wish to reproduce, distribute, perform or make available works in easy-to-access copy formats under Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property shall submit their dossiers, enclosed with relevant documents, to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

After 30 days from the date of receiving a valid dossier from an organization, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall issue a decision to approve or refuse to approve such organization’s application of the exception case in which copyright is not regarded as infringed upon for people with disabilities.

b/ Mode of implementation: Dossiers shall be submitted directly or by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

c/ A dossier must comprise:

A declaration-cum-request for approval of an exception case in which copyright is not regarded as infringed upon for people with disabilities (made according to Form No. 03 provided in Appendix III to this Decree).

A use plan;

A certified copy of the business registration certificate or operation registration certificate or establishment decision of the organization and other documents proving the organization’s satisfaction of the conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

d/ The organization approved to apply the exception case in which copyright is not regarded as infringed upon for people with disabilities may not transfer the approved right to other organizations or individuals.

  5. Organizations specified in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article have the following obligations:

a/ To ensure that their copies in easy-to-access formats satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ To notify the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of lists of their copies of works in easy-to-access formats and publicly notify such lists on their websites, if any;

c/ To respect the right to privacy of people with disabilities on the basis of ensuring equality with other people;

d/ To send annual reports to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on performance of the activities under Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property; to submit to inspection and examination by competent state agencies.

6. The organizations specified in treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party mentioned in Clauses 3 and 5, Article 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property are organizations permitted by contracting parties to such treaties.

Article 31. Reasonable reproduction of part of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts

The reasonable reproduction of part of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts for direct teaching by individuals and not for commercial purposes specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property must satisfy the following conditions:

1. The reproduction is carried out only within classes of education institutions and ensures that only students and teachers/lecturers in these classes can access reproduced parts of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts.

In case reproduced parts are used in examination questions and answers for testing knowledge and skills in the national education system, they may be used according to the level of necessity.

2. The reproduction does not cause unreasonable prejudice to lawful interests of related rights holders.

3. These provisions are not applicable to performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts already published for the teaching purpose.

Article 32. Reasonable recitation of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts

1. Reasonable recitation for the information provision purpose as specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the use of recited parts of works for the news reporting purpose only.

2. The reasonable recitation of works specified in Clause 1 of this Article must fully satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Recited parts are used only for the purpose of introducing, commenting on or clarifying matters in the provision of information.

b/ Recited parts of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts do not cause an unreasonable prejudice to lawful interests of performers or holders of related rights to performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts used for recitation and are appropriate to the nature and characteristics of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts used for recitation.

Article 33. Temporary copies

Temporary copies specified at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property are versions fixed for a definite term by broadcasting organizations with their devices and equipment to serve immediately subsequent broadcasts of their own. In special cases, such copies shall be archived at official archive centers.

Section 2. LIMITATIONS ON COPYRIGHTS OR LIMITATIONS ON RELATED RIGHTS

Article 34. Use of works, phonograms and video recordings in case of limitations on copyright or limitations on related rights

1. Use of works permitted by copyright holders to be fixed on phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes in business and commercial activities specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 26 of the Law on Intellectual Property, or on phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes in business and commercial activities specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property, means use of works, phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes by organizations and individuals at restaurants, cafes, hotels, stores, supermarkets; entertainment and recreation centers, trade centers; gyms, health and beauty care centers; karaoke parlors; bars and dance halls; or in aviation, mass transit and other business and commercial activities of similar nature.

2. Organizations and individuals that use works, phonograms and video recordings under Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall directly contact copyright holders, performers and related rights holders of such phonograms and video recordings or organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights for exploitation, use, provision of lists and time volumes of used works, phonograms and video recordings, and pay royalty in accordance with law.

In case it is impossible to find or contact copyright holders, performers and related rights holders of phonograms or video recordings, organizations and individuals that use works, phonograms and video recordings shall perform obligations toward competent state agencies under Clause 6, Article 23 of this Decree, and such competent state agencies shall proceed with search and management activities under Clause 8, Article 23 of this Decree.

3. Royalty division percentages in case phonograms and video recordings are used under Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property must comply with agreements of copyright holders, performers and related rights holders of such phonograms and video recordings. In case no such agreement is reached, the royalty division percentages are as follows: 50% for the copyright holder, 25% for the performer and 25% for the related rights holder.

Article 35. Payment of royalty in case of limitations on copyright or limitations on related rights

1. Organizations and individuals that wish to use works, phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes in order to make their broadcasts which are sponsored, advertised or charged in whatever form under Point a, Clause 1, Article 26 or Point a, Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property are not required to ask for permission but shall pay royalty to copyright holders, performers and related rights holders for such phonograms and video recordings under agreements as soon as they commence the use. In case no such agreement is reached, they shall pay royalty at the rates specified in Appendix I to this Decree or initiate lawsuits at court in accordance with law.

2. Organizations and individuals that wish to use works, phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes in order to make their broadcasts which are neither sponsored, advertised nor charged in whatever form under Point a, Clause 1, Article 26 or Point a, Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property are not required to ask for permission but shall pay royalty to copyright holders, performers and related rights holders for such phonograms and video recordings at the rates specified in Appendix I to this Decree.

3. Broadcasting organizations that wish to use works, phonograms and video recordings under Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall take one calendar year as the period of account-finalization of royalty payment. If such broadcasting organizations fail to pay royalty under Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article after 90 days from the end of a fiscal year, they shall stop the use of such works, phonograms and
video recordings.

This Clause does not apply to cases in which the parties otherwise agree.

4. Organizations and individuals that wish to use phonograms and video recordings published for commercial purposes in their business and commercial activities under Point b, Clause 1, Article 26 or Point b, Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Clause 1, Article 34 of this Decree are not required to ask for permission but shall pay royalty to copyright holders, performers and related rights holders for such phonograms and video recordings under agreements as soon as they commence the use. In case no such agreement is reached, they shall pay royalty at the rates specified in Appendix II to this Decree or initiate lawsuits at court in accordance with law. In case they fail to pay royalty within 90 days after commencing the use, they shall stop the use.

Article 36. Exploitation and use of the right to translate works from foreign languages into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes

1. A Vietnamese organization or individual that wishes to translate into Vietnamese a foreign-language work lawfully distributed or made available to the public for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes shall submit  directly to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism a dossier, which must comprise a declaration-cum-request for permission for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes, enclosed with evidences that the dossier submitter had previously requested permission of the copyright holder for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese but such  request was rejected or it remains impossible to reach an agreement or find the copyright holder in spite of having taken every measure, and must satisfy one of the following conditions:

a/ The copyright holder had neither translated nor permitted any organization or individual to translate the foreign-language work into Vietnamese for being published within 3 years from the first publication of the work;

b/ The copyright holder had published the Vietnamese translation of the foreign-language work but no publication exists on the market after 3 years from the date the translation is last published.

2. Procedures for, and form of, implementation:

a/ An organization or individual that wishes to translate a foreign-language work into Vietnamese shall submit a dossier directly or by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

b/ After 20 days from the date of receiving a valid dossier, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall send a notice to the copyright holder and publish it on the website on copyright and related rights, stating that the organization or individual asks for permission for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes;

c/ After at least 6 months from the date of publishing the notice mentioned at Point b of this Clause, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall send a notice of royalty payment enclosed with a royalty estimate to the dossier submitter;

d/ Within 5 working days after receiving the notice of royalty payment, the organization or individual shall pay royalty according to the royalty estimate (and receive a copy of the royalty receipt);

dd/ Within 5 working days after receiving royalty, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall issue a written permission for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes;

e/ The agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall transfer the received royalty amount to the copyright holder in accordance with the law on foreign exchange management and relevant laws. In case the copyright holder cannot be found, Clause 8, Article 23 of this Decree shall apply.

3. A dossier must comprise:

a/ A declaration-cum-request for permission for translation of a foreign-language work into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes (made according to Form No. 04 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A use plan;

c/ Documents proving that the dossier submitter had previously requested permission of the copyright holder for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese but such request was rejected or it remains impossible to reach an agreement or find the copyright holder in spite of having exerted every effort;

d/ Documents proving the dossier submitter’s satisfaction of the conditions specified at Point a or b, Clause 1 of this Article;

dd/ A copy of the receipt of payment of the charge for permission for translation of the foreign-language work into Vietnamese for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes (in case the charge is paid by post or directly into the recipient’s bank account);

e/ A (notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized) power of attorney, in case the dossier is submitted by an authorized party.

4. The organizations and individuals permitted to make translations may only make and publish the translations and may not transfer such translations to other organizations and individuals.

The agency specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article may not permit any other organization or individual to translate into Vietnamese a work the translation of which has been permitted as mentioned above in case the period stated in the permission for translation has not yet expired or has expired for no more than 6 months.

5. In case the copyright holder has published a Vietnamese translation with contents identical to contents of a printed document being the subject matter of the permission for translation as specified in this Article and distributed such printed document at an appropriate price in Vietnam, the agency specified at Point a, Clause 2 of this Article shall issue a decision to revoke such permission. Copies of the printed document that are made or published before the revocation decision is issued may be fully distributed.

6. The organizations and individuals permitted to make translations may not export copies of printed documents of the translations or publications in Vietnamese, except the following cases:

a/ Overseas recipients are Vietnamese citizens;

b/ The documents are printed for the teaching or research purpose;

c/ The distribution of printed documents is not for commercial purposes;  

d/ The countries where printed documents are to be distributed permit Vietnam to distribute, or distribute, such printed documents to or in such countries.

Article 37. Exploitation and use of the right to reproduce works for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes

1. A Vietnamese organization or individual that wishes to reproduce a work lawfully distributed or made available to the public for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes shall submit directly to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism a dossier which must comprise a declaration-cum-request for permission for reproduction of the work for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes, enclosed with evidences that the dossier submitter had previously requested permission of the copyright holder for reproduction of the work but such request was rejected or it remains impossible to reach an agreement, and must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ The copyright holder has not distributed the work to the public in Vietnam for 5 years from the first publication of the work, or has not distributed the work to the public in Vietnam for 3 years, for natural science, physics, mathematical or technological works, or has not distributed the work to the public in Vietnam for 7 years, for novels and poetic, dramatic, musical or artistic works; 

b/ The copyright holder has distributed copies of the work but no publication of the work exists on the market after the expiration of the time limit specified at Point a of this Clause.

2. The application of Clause 1 of this Article must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ The dossier submitter can prove that it/he/she had previously requested permission of the copyright holder for reproduction and publication of the work but such request was rejected, or that it/he/she has taken every measure but remains impossible to find the copyright holder;

b/ When the dossier submitter is unable to find the copyright holder, it/he/she had sent by post a copy of its/his/her request for power of attorney to the publishing house shown on the work no less than 3 months before the date of dossier submission;

c/ The dossier submitter is fully capable of making and publishing a duplicate of the work and has adequate technical means to pay royalty to the copyright holder;

d/ The name of the author and the title of a specific publication of the work requested to be reproduced are printed on all reproduction copies;

dd/ The author has not yet been retracted from copies of the work in circulation.

3. Procedures for, and form of, implementation:

a/ A Vietnamese organization or individual that wishes to reproduce a work lawfully distributed or made available to the public for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes shall submit a dossier directly or by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

b/ After 20 days from the date of receiving a valid dossier, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall send a notice to the copyright holder and publish it on the website on copyright and related rights, stating that the organization or individual requests permission for reproduction of the work lawfully distributed or made available to the public for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes;

c/ After at least 6 months, for dossiers of request for permission for reproduction of natural science, physics, mathematical or technological works, or at least 3 months, for dossiers of request for permission for reproduction of other works, from the date of publishing a notice mentioned at Point b of this Clause, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall send a notice of royalty payment enclosed with a royalty estimate to the dossier submitter;

d/ Within 5 working days after receiving the notice of royalty payment, the organization or individual shall pay royalty according to the royalty estimate (and receive a copy of the royalty receipt);

dd/ Within 5 working days after receiving royalty, the agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall issue a written permission for reproduction of the work for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes;

e/ The agency mentioned at Point a of this Clause shall transfer the received royalty amount to the copyright holder in accordance with the law on foreign exchange management and relevant regulations. In case the copyright holder cannot be found, Clause 8, Article 23 of this Decree shall apply.

4. A dossier must comprise:

a/ A declaration-cum-request for permission for reproduction of a work for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes (made according to Form No. 05 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A use plan;

c/ Documents proving that the dossier submitter has requested permission of the copyright holder for reproduction of the work but such request was rejected or it remains unable to reach an agreement or find the copyright holder in spite of having exerted every effort;

d/ Documents proving the dossier submitter’s satisfaction of the conditions specified at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article;

dd/ A copy of the receipt of payment of the charge for permission for reproduction of the work for teaching or research activities not for commercial purposes (in case the charge is paid by post or directly into the recipient’s bank account);

e/ A (notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized) power of attorney, in case the dossier is submitted by an authorized party.

5. The organizations and individuals permitted to reproduce works may only make and publish the copies of such works and may not transfer such copies to other organizations and individuals.

Chapter IV. REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 38. Submission of copyright or related rights registration dossiers

1. Authors, copyright holders and related rights holders that are Vietnamese individuals or organizations, foreign individuals permanently residing in Vietnam, or foreign organizations having their head offices, representative offices or branches based in Vietnam shall submit copyright or related rights registration dossiers directly or through their lawful representatives in Vietnam.

2. Authors, copyright holders and related rights holders that are foreign individuals not permanently residing in Vietnam or foreign organizations having no head offices, representative offices or branches based in Vietnam shall submit copyright or related rights registration dossiers directly via level-4 online public service portals or may authorize Vietnam-based copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations to submit their dossiers.

3. A lawful representative mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article is:

a/ A person acting as the legal representative of or authorized by or a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization authorized by the individual, for applicants being individuals;

b/ The legal representative of the organization or the person belonging to the organization who is authorized by the legal representative of the organization, or a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization authorized by the organization, for applicants being organizations; or the head of the organization’s Vietnam-based head office, representative office or branch, for applicants being foreign organizations.

4. Conditions for grant, re-grant or renewal of copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates:

a/ Authors, co-authors, copyright holders and copyright co-holders of works, performers, related rights holders, and related rights co-holders of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts satisfy the conditions specified in Articles 12a, 13 and 16 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts are of the types and subject matters specified in Articles 14 and 17 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ Registration dossiers are valid under Article 39, 40 or 41 of this Decree.

5. Procedures for grant, re-grant or renewal of copyright registration certificates or related rights registration certificates:

a/ Applicants shall submit 1 dossier under Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 8 of this Article, and Clause 1, Article 39; Clause 2, Article 40; and Clause 2, Article 41, of this Decree and pay charges and fees in accordance with law;

b/ A competent state agency shall review and classify, and consider the validity of, the dossier within 1 month after receiving it;

c/ In case the dossier is invalid, the competent state agency shall send a notice requesting the applicant to modify or supplement the dossier.

The applicant shall modify or supplement the dossier within 1 month after receiving the notice, except cases of force majeure events or external obstacles as specified by law. In case the applicant fails to modify or supplement the dossier or has modified or supplemented it but the dossier remains invalid, the competent state agency shall return it to the applicant;

d/ The competent state agency shall keep 1 copy of each of the works filed for copyright registration or 1 copy of each of the fixations of the subject matters filed for related rights registration. One copy of each of the works filed for copyright registration or 1 copy of each of the fixations of the subject matters filed for related rights registration which bears a seal and the serial number of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate shall be returned to the certificate holder as an inseparable attachment to such certificate.

6. In case of authorization for submitting a copyright or related rights registration dossier, the dossier must comprise a power of attorney. The power of attorney must clearly state contact information of the authorizing party and the authorized party; name of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast; scope and period of power of attorney.

In case the authorizing party is an individual, the power of attorney shall be authenticated in accordance with law.

7. Documents included in a copyright or related rights registration dossier shall be made in Vietnamese; if being made in another language, such documents shall be translated into Vietnamese (notarized or consularly legalized). These documents shall be typewritten or printed in an unfadable ink, and must be clear, clean, and contain no erasure or alteration. In case of detecting spelling errors in the submitted documents, the applicant may correct such errors but shall insert his/her signature and append a seal, if any, in the positions of corrected errors.

8. Copyright or related rights registration dossiers shall be hand-delivered or sent by post or through online public service portals to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Article 39. Grant of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

1. A dossier of application for a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate mentioned in Clause 2, Article 50 of the Law on Intellectual Property must comprise:

a/ A declaration for copyright or related rights registration (made according to the set form), signed or fingerprinted by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, unless he/she is physically unable to sign or fingerprint it;

b/ Two copies of each of the works (including also e-copies) or 2 copies of each of the fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts;

c/ A power of attorney, if the applicant is authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder under Clause 6, Article 38 of this Decree;

d/ A document proving that the applicant is the rights holder, specifically as follows:

Document proving personal identification, for individuals: 1 copy of people’s identity card or citizen identity card or passport;

Document proving the legal status, for organizations: 1 copy of enterprise registration certificate or establishment license or establishment decision;

Document proving that the applicant is the rights holder as a result of assignment of the task of creating works within a unit or an organization: the decision on or confirmation of the assignment of the task of creating works to an individual belonging to such unit or organization;

Document proving that the applicant is the rights holder as a result of entry into a contract on performance of the task of creating works: the contract, rules and regulations on organization of the creative contest;

Document proving that the applicant is the rights holder as a result of inheritance: the document stating the right to inheritance which is notarized and certified in accordance with law;

Document proving that the applicant is the rights holder as a result of transfer of rights: the contract on transfer, donation, purchase and sale, or capital contribution which is notarized and certified in accordance with law;

In case the author is not concurrently the copyright holder, he/she shall make a written commitment on creation on his/her own or creation of the work under the task assignment decision or confirmation; and the contract; and participate in the creative contest and take responsibility before law for the commitment contents.

The document proving that the applicant is the rights holder as a result of assignment of the task of creating works or entry into a contract on performance of the task of creating works specified in this Clause must be the original or a notarized or certified copy;

dd/ The written consent of the co-authors, for works under joint authorship;

e/ The written consent of the co-holders, if the copyright or related rights is/are under joint ownership;

g/ In case the personal image of another person is used in the work, the written consent of such person is required in accordance with law.

2. A competent state agency shall refuse to grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate and return the dossier and issue a notice to the applicant in the following cases:

a/ The conditions specified in Clause 4, Article 38 of this Decree are not satisfied;

b/ It is detected that the form of contents of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast violate(s) the Constitution and law; oppose(s) the Party and the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; is(are) contrary to morality and fine customs of the nation; or showing superstition, and other contents specified by law;

c/ It is detected that the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast is involved in a dispute, complaint or denunciation while there is no legally effective decision/ruling/award of the competent agency, court or arbitration;

d/ The competent state agency receives no valid dossier though the time limit specified at Point c, Clause 5, Article 38 of this Decree has expired, or the re-submitted dossier is invalid.

3. In case the dossier is valid as required, within 15 working days after receiving it, the competent state agency shall grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate.

Article 40. Re-grant of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

1. A copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate shall be re-granted when it is lost or torn or damaged.

2. A dossier of request for re-grant of a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate must comprise:

a/ A declaration for copyright or related rights registration (made according to the set form), signed or fingerprinted by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, unless he/she is physically unable to sign or fingerprint it;

b/ Two copies of each of the works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts;

c/ A power of attorney, if the applicant is authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder under Clause 6, Article 38 of this Decree;

d/ The original copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate which is torn or damaged, together with a copy of each of the works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts that bears a seal and the serial number of the certificate.

3. The competent state agency may refuse to re-grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate and shall return the dossier and issue a notice to the applicant in the following cases:

a/ The copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate is not so damaged that it is required to be re-granted;

b/ It is detected that original contents of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast for which certificate re-grant is requested see a change;

c/ The cases specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 2, Article 39 of this Decree.

4. In case the dossier is valid as required, within 7 working days after receiving it, the competent state agency shall re-grant a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate.

Article 41. Renewal of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

1. A copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate shall be renewed upon change of the copyright holder or related rights holder or a change in information about the author, copyright holder, related rights holder, or about the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast.

2. A dossier of request for renewal of a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate must comprise:

a/ A declaration for copyright or related rights registration (made according to the set form), signed or fingerprinted by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, unless he/she is physically unable to sign or fingerprint it;

b/ Two copies of each of the works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts;

c/ A power of attorney, if the applicant is authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder under Clause 6, Article 38 of this Decree;

d/ The original of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate, together with a copy of each of the works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts that bears a seal and the serial number of the certificate.

3. A competent state agency may refuse to renew a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate and shall return the dossier and issue a notice to the applicant in the following cases:

a/ It is detected that original contents of the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast for which certificate renewal is requested see a change;

b/ The cases specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 2, Article 39 of this Decree.

4. In case the dossier is valid as required, within 12 working days after receiving it, the competent state agency shall renew a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate.

Article 42. Invalidation of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

1. The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is competent to invalidate copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates in the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 55 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. An organization or individual granted a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate that requests invalidation of such certificate shall carry out the following procedures:

a/ It/he/she shall submit 1 dossier of request for invalidation of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate and pay charges and fees in accordance with law;

b/ A dossier of request for invalidation of a copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate must comprise:

A request for invalidation of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate (made according to Form No. 06 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

A power of attorney, if the organization or individual is authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder under Clause 6, Article 38 of this Decree;

Evidences (if any);

The original of the granted copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate, enclosed with a copy of each of the works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts that bears a seal and the serial number of the certificate;

c/ The competent state agency shall review, and consider the validity of, the dossier within 1 month after receiving it;

d/ In case the dossier is invalid, the competent state agency shall issue a notice to the organization or individual, requesting the dossier modification or supplementation.

The organization or individual shall modify or supplement the dossier within 1 month after receiving the above notice, except cases of force majeure events or external obstacles as specified by law. In case the organization or individual fails to modify or supplement the dossier or has modified or supplemented it but the dossier remains invalid, the competent state agency shall return the dossier to the organization or individual;

dd/ In case the dossier is valid as required, within 15 working days after receiving it, the competent state agency shall invalidate the granted copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate.

Article 43. Requirements on works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts in copyright or related rights registration dossiers

1. Names of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts must be suitable to contents and types of such works or contents of such performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts.

2. Works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts with part or the whole of their contents presented in languages other than Vietnamese shall be accompanied by descriptions in Vietnamese.

3. Works presented in the form of shorthand or other similar symbols shall be accompanied by descriptions in Vietnamese certified by competent agencies in accordance with law.

4. A cinematographic work shall be accompanied by a literary script that is a creative product of the screenwriter in the form of text, showing the entire developments of a film story; or by a storyboard that is a creative product of the director in the form of text, showing the technical expertise and method of making a film’s shots based on the literary script.

5. For fine-art works: Copies of such a work are photos taken from different angles showing the composition, lines, colors and shapes of the entire work.

6. An applied fine-arts work must meet the following requirements:

a/ Its copy shall be clearly shown on A4 papers showing the composition, lines, colors and shapes of the entire work;

b/ In case the work contains letters, words or phrases in a language other than Vietnamese, such letters, words or phrases shall be accompanied by their pronunciations (transliterated into Vietnamese) and, if such letters, words or phrases have meanings, they shall be translated into Vietnamese. If such letters, words or phrases contain numerals other than Arabic numerals or Roman numerals, they shall be translated into Arabic numerals;

c/ For works having contents related to medicine, education or other specialized fields, certification, appraisal and approval documents/papers from competent authorities are required.

7. An architectural work shall be accompanied by overall technical drawings showing architectural details (including cross sections, vertical sections from different directions, and orthogonal projections) and 3D perspectives. A work’s pages shall be ordinally numbered.

8. For works being textbooks: Contents of these works must properly and fully represent contents of curricula of subjects or educational activities, fully stating the following basic components: sections, chapters or topics, and lessons.

9. For computer programs: Copies of a computer program include a CD containing such computer program (with the program’s name written in a white paper piece stuck on 1 side of the CD) and the program’s copy printed on A4 papers containing the entire interface and codes of such computer program. In case the above-mentioned printed copy has 100 pages or more, it is required to print the first 25 pages, the middle 25 pages and the last 25 pages of the code.

10. Copies of works filed for copyright registration may be replaced with photos showing three dimensions thereof, for works with specific characteristics such as paintings, statues, monuments, reliefs, and monumental paintings associated with architectural works; or oversized works and monotype works.

Article 44. Validity of copyright registration certificates and related rights registration certificates

Copyright registration certificates and related copyright registration certificates granted by the Vietnam Copyright Protection Firm, the Vietnam Copyright Protection Agency, the Literary-Artistic Copyright Office or the Copyright Office of Vietnam remain valid.

Chapter V. ORGANIZATIONS ACTING AS COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATIVES OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS, COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS CONSULTANCY AND SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Article 45. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights

Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights specified in Clause 1, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall strictly comply with regulations on the scope and functions of operation and authorization contracts between them and copyright holders or related rights holders concerning the management of a particular economic right or a group of economic rights.

Article 46. Royalty tariff

1. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall formulate royalty tariffs and methods of royalty payment in conformity with work use forms and in adherence to the principles specified in Clause 3, Article 44a of the Law on Intellectual Property, for use as a basis for conducting negotiations and making royalty payment in the cases specified in Clause 2, Article 20; Clause 1, Article 26; Clause 4, Article 29; Clause 2, Article 30; Clause 2, Article 31; and Clause 1, Article 33, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall submit dossiers to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, requesting approval of royalty tariffs and methods of royalty payment before applying such tariffs and methods.

2. A dossier of request for approval of a royalty tariff and method of royalty payment must comprise:

a/ A declaration-cum-request for approval of a royalty tariff and method of royalty payment (made according to Form No. 07 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A plan on formulation of the royalty tariff, which must have the following contents:

Analysis of the proposed royalty tariff: bases for royalty calculation (type, form, quality, quantity, structure, scale, frequency of exploitation/use and other bases); constituents of royalty rates; socio-economic conditions by geographical area, time and place where acts of exploitation/use take place (with classification and evaluation); impacts of the royalty tariff/rates on creative activities, exploitation/use and enjoyment of outcomes of such creative activities; and performance of obligations toward the state budget;

Issues on which no agreement is reached with the exploiting/using party (if any);

Proposed royalty tariff and payment method, and recommendations (if any).

3. Organizations and individuals exploiting/using works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts and organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall reach agreement on royalty rates and payment methods.

4. Expenses for considering and approving royalty tariffs and methods of royalty payment shall be paid by approval requesters in accordance with law.

Article 47. Approval of royalty tariffs and methods of royalty payment

1. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall consider and issue a written approval of a royalty tariff and method of royalty payment within 90 days after receiving a valid dossier of request for approval of such royalty tariff and method of royalty payment from an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights under Clause 1, Article 46 of this Decree.

2. If deeming it necessary, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism may set up an Advisory Council on copyright and related rights to consider the royalty tariff and method of royalty payment specified in Clause 1 of this Article and promulgate the Working Regulation of the Advisory Council on copyright and related rights.

3. The approved royalty tariff and method of royalty payment shall be applied for at least 3 years.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall consider adjusting a royalty tariff in case of changes in consumer price index and the country’s economic growth rate with respect to bases for determining the royalty tariff. Organizations that may propose adjustment of royalty tariffs include organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights; the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Article 48. Collection and division of royalty amounts

1. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall adopt supervision mechanisms to ensure that royalty amounts collected from licensing are kept in accounts in separation from their other assets, accounts, revenues and expenditures, even in case it is impossible to divide collected royalty amounts due to failure to find or contact authorizing authors, co-authors, copyright holders, copyright co-holders, related rights holders or related rights co-holders under Clause 5, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall divide collected royalty amounts specified at Points d and e, Clause 3, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property on the basis of agreements reached with authorizing authors, copyright holders or related rights holders based on agreed terms, ensuring that such division is made within 6 months from the date such royalty amounts are collected, unless otherwise agreed upon.

3. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights may retain part of total collected royalty amounts to cover expenses for the performance of their tasks under Point dd, Clause 3, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Expenses for the performance of tasks of an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights are total expenditures for activities carried out by the organization as authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, and other management expenses, which must not exceed reasonable expenses for management of copyright and related rights in each stage of development of the organization. Expenses shall be recorded in the organization’s financial account-finalization statements after such statements are certified by an independent auditing firm.

4. The to-be-retained amount shall be agreed upon by the authorizing author, copyright holder or related rights holder and may be adjusted in stages and must not exceed:

a/ Forty percent of the total royalty amounts collected within the first 5 years after the establishment of the organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights;

b/ Thirty percent of the total royalty amounts collected within the subsequent 5 years;

c/ Twenty-five percent of the total collected royalty amounts, for organizations established for 10 years or more.

5. In case an organization other than an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights collects and divides royalty amounts as authorized by the author, copyright holder or related rights holder, it shall comply with Point c, Clause 2, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 55 of this Decree and shall, at the same time, perform the corresponding obligations of an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights as specified in Clause 2 of this Article and Articles 53 and 54 of this Decree.

Article 49. Settlement of cases in which the authorizing authors, copyright holders or related rights holders cannot be found or contacted

1. An organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights that cannot find or contact authorizing author, co-authors, copyright holder, related rights holder, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders under Clause 5, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall publicly notify on its website relevant information for finding the authorizing party.

Past 6 months from the date of information notification, the organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall transfer collected royalty amounts to a bank account opened commonly for the authorizing author, co-authors, copyright holder, related rights holders, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders that cannot be found or contacted.

If having found or contacted the authorizing author, co-authors, copyright holder, related rights holder, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders, the organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall divide collected royalty amounts as agreed upon.

2. After 5 years’ search for the authorizing author, co-authors, copyright holder, related rights holder, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders for division of collected royalty amounts, if it is still impossible to find or contact them, collected royalty amounts and interests thereon as well as documents relating to the authorization and royalty collection shall be handed over to the competent state agency for management after subtracting expenses for management and search activities in accordance with law.

3. After the handover, the competent state agency shall continue posting search notices on the website on copyright and related rights for 5 years and manage collected royalty amounts under Clause 8, Article 23 of this Decree.

4. Within the time limit specified in Clause 2 or 3 of this Article, in case there is a competent court’s legally effective judgment or ruling determining that the author, co-authors, copyright holder, related right holder, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders has/have been declared missing or dead (for individuals) or has/have been dissolved or gone bankrupt (for organizations), collected royalty amounts and interests thereon (if any) shall, after subtracting expenses for management and search activities, be paid to beneficiaries in accordance with relevant laws.

Article 50. Exploitation and use of phonograms and video recordings licensed by organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights

1. In case the use of works, phonograms and video recordings under Clause 1, Article 26 and Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property has been authorized by copyright holders, performers or related rights holders to organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights, the authorized organizations may reach agreement, authorize negotiation and collect royalties in accordance with law. The rate for division of the collected royalty amounts shall be agreed upon by these organizations themselves. If no agreement is reached, Clause 3, Article 34 of this Decree shall apply.

2. An authorizing organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall draw up a list of members and their works, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts and take responsibility upon the signing of the contract for authorizing another organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights it to represent such members in negotiating agreements and collecting royalties.

3. An authorized organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall negotiate agreements and collect royalties based on the list of members and their works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts specified in the authorization contract.

Article 51. Organizational structure of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights

1. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall organize general meetings and annual meetings.

2. A general meeting of an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall decide on the following contents:

a/ Change of the name of the organization; modification and/or supplementation of the organization’s charter (if any);

b/ Change of holders of leading, managerial and supervisory positions of the organization;

c/ Other contents specified by relevant laws and the organization’s charter.

3. An annual meeting of an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights covers the following contents:

a/ Modification of the operation regulation of the organization, in case such regulation’s contents have yet to be governed by the organization’s charter;

b/ Reporting on the performance of members’ obligations, and approval of salaries and other benefits for members performing leading, managerial and supervisory tasks of the organization;

c/ Consideration of operational reports and financial statements of the organization;

d/ Decision on percentages of to-be-retained amounts mentioned in Clause 4, Article 48 of this Decree;

dd/ Approval of the Regulation on royalty collection and division;

e/ Other contents as specified by relevant laws and the organization’s charter.

4. Members performing leading, managerial and supervisory tasks of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights must include authorizing members.

Article 52. Members of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights

1. Members of an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights include:

a/ Authorizing members that are organizations and individuals owning one, some or all of the economic rights specified in Clause 1, Article 20; Clause 3, Article 29; Clause 1, Article 30; or Clause 1, Article 31, of the Law on Intellectual Property and authorizing in writing the organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights to manage economic rights held by them for carrying out activities specified in Clause 2, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ Other members specified by law.

2. Authorizing members may participate and vote in general meetings and annual meetings or authorize other organizations and individuals to participate and vote at such meetings in accordance with law.

3. Votes cast at general meetings and annual meetings by authorizing members shall be calculated based on the proportion of works, fixed performances, phonograms, video recordings and fixed broadcasts and collected royalty amounts which have been authorized by such members to an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights.

Article 53. Publicity and transparency in management and administration activities of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights

1. An organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall publicize at annual meetings and post on its website annual reports and audited annual financial statements, including information on revenues from the licensing, payable amounts, paid amounts, collected amounts for which the authorizing author, co-authors, copyright holder, copyright co-holders, related rights holder or related rights co-holders cannot be found or contacted under Clause 5, Article 56 of the Law on Intellectual Property, retained royalty amounts, tax, charge and fee amounts, and interests on undivided royalty amounts (if any).

2. An organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall publicize on its website the following contents:

a/ Names of authors, copyright holders and related rights holders;

b/ For individuals: date of birth; year of death (if any); for organizations: date of establishment; year of dissolution (if any);

c/ Names of works, names of subject matters of related rights (performances; phonograms and video recordings; broadcasts);

d/ Contents of works; contents of performances; contents of phonograms and video recordings; contents of broadcasts;

dd/ Scope of authorization; validity of the authorization contract;

e/ Licensing, collection and division of royalty amounts;

g/ Activities of organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights;

h/ Other relevant information.

3. Upon the division of collected royalty amounts to the authorizing author, copyright holder or related rights holder under Clause 2, Article 48 of this Decree, an organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall also send the following information:

a/ Amounts payable for each of licensed works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts, clearly stating licensed rights and use purposes;

b/ Period of time during which each of licensed works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts is used, as a basis for royalty collection and division.

Article 54. Reporting regime

1. Organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights shall report to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance and their managing agencies on the modification and/or supplementation of their charters and operation regulations; financial management mechanisms; change of leadership personnel; participation in international organizations; other external activities; royalty tariffs and methods of royalty payment; long-term and annual programs and plans; operation, signing of authorization contracts, and licensing contracts; status of authorizing members, number of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts authorized to the organizations; royalty collection, royalty rates, methods or modes of royalty division, regulations on royalty collection and division; annual reports and audited annual financial statements; and other relevant activities.

The modification and/or supplementation of charters of these organizations shall be reported to a competent authority for approval before implementation.

2. An organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights shall build and connect its website with the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights.

3. An organization acting as a collective representative of copyright and related rights must have its own database system on copyright and related rights connected with the national database system on copyright and related rights.

Article 55. Copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations

1. Copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations specified in Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ Enterprises established and operating in accordance with the law on enterprises;

b/ Cooperatives and unions of cooperatives established and operating in accordance with the law on cooperatives;

c/ Non-business units;

d/ Law-practicing organizations established and operating in accordance with the law on lawyers, except branches of foreign law-practicing organizations, wholly foreign-owned limited liability law firms, and limited liability law firms operating as joint ventures between Vietnamese law-practicing organizations and foreign law-practicing organizations.

2. A copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization may be established under Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property when its head and individuals engaged in copyright and related rights consultancy and service activities fully satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being Vietnamese citizens who have full civil act capacity;

b/ Permanently residing in Vietnam;

c/ Possessing a university degree in law.

3. Recognition of copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations:

a/ An organization that fully meets the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Clause 2 of this Article shall be recognized by the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization in the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights Consultancy and Services; the organization’s information shall be published on the website on copyright and related rights at the request of such organization after its request is approved.

Branches and other affiliated units of organizations fully satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property may only provide copyright and related rights consultancy and services in the name of such organizations.

b/ Method of implementation: Hand-delivering dossiers or sending dossiers by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

c/ A dossier of request for recognition of a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization in the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights Consultancy and Services shall be made under the name of an organization satisfying the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property, and must comprise:

A declaration-cum-request for recognition of a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization (made according to Form No. 08 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

A list of individuals belonging to the organization who personally carry out copyright and related rights consultancy and service activities, together with copies of their people’s identity cards or citizen identity cards;

Curriculum vitae of the head of the organization, certified by a competent state agency;

Certified copies of university degrees in law of the head of the organization and individuals engaged in copyright and related rights consultancy and service activities;

A copy of the business registration certificate or operation registration certificate of the organization.

d/ Within 30 days after receiving a valid dossier, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall check the dossier and issue a reply to the copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization, stating the agency’s recognition of, or refusal to recognize, such organization.

4. Deletion of names of copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations:

a/ The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall delete the name of a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization from the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights Consultancy and Services, and publish information on such deletion on the website on copyright and related rights, in the following cases:

The copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization no longer wishes to provide or terminates providing copyright and related rights consultancy and services;

The copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 1, Article 57 of the Law on Intellectual Property and Clause 2 of this Article;

b/ Organizations and individuals may request the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to delete the name of a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization if having sufficient grounds to believe that such organization is no longer eligible for providing copyright and related rights consultancy
and services;

c/ Copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations shall carry out procedures to request the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to delete their names from the National Register of Copyright and Related Rights Consultancy and Services in the cases specified at Point a of this Clause;

d/ Method of implementation: Hand-delivering dossiers or sending dossiers by post to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

dd/ A dossier of request for deletion of the name of a copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization must comprise a declaration-cum-request for deletion of the name of the copyright and related rights consultancy and service organization (made according to Form No. 08 provided in Appendix III to this Decree), clearly stating the reason for the deletion or a paper showing results of the settlement of petitions, reported information, complaints or denunciations or a competent state agency’s decision with regard to the deletion request;

e/ The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall carry out procedures for processing a dossier of request for deletion of the name of a copyright and related copyright consultancy and service organization within 30 days after receiving such a valid dossier which are similar to the procedures for recognition of copyright and related copyright consultancy and service organizations.

5. In case of a change related to information on a copyright or related rights consultancy and service organization, such organization shall send a notice of the change to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

6. The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall draw up and post a list of copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations on its website on copyright and related rights.

7. Copyright and related rights consultancy and service organizations shall send reports and information on copyright and related rights consultancy and service activities on an annual or unscheduled basis to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Chapter VI. PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Section 1. SELF-PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 56. General provisions on protection of copyright and related rights

1. Copyright holders and related rights holders may directly exercise and protect  their copyright and related rights or authorize organizations acting as collective representatives of copyright and related rights or other organizations or individuals to do so in accordance with law. Authorized parties shall publicize information for organizations and individuals exploiting or using works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts to contact and reach agreements with copyright holders and related rights holders on exploitation or use of such works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts.

2. Organizations and individuals exploiting or using works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts shall contact copyright holders, related rights holders or authorized parties to reach agreements on exploitation or use of such works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts in accordance with the law on copyright and related rights.

3. Disputes over copyright and related rights shall be settled in accordance with the civil procedure law or arbitration law.

Article 57. Application of civil, administrative and criminal measures to protect copyright and related rights

Organizations and individuals that commit acts of infringing upon copyright or related rights of other organizations or individuals shall, depending on the nature and severity of the infringement, be handled with civil, administrative or criminal measures as specified in Part Five (Protection of Intellectual Property Rights) of the Law on Intellectual Property and in accordance with the following provisions:

1. Civil measures shall be applied to handle acts of infringement at the request of copyright holders or related rights holders or organizations and individuals suffering damage caused by such acts, even if such acts have been or are being handled with administrative or criminal measures.

Procedures for requesting, and competence, order and procedures for, the application of civil measures must comply with the civil procedure law or arbitration law.

2. Administrative measures shall be applied to handle acts of infringement in one of the cases specified in Article 211 of the Law on Intellectual Property at the request of copyright holders or related rights holders, organizations and individuals suffering damage caused by such acts or of organizations and individuals detecting such acts, or to handle acts of infringement detected by competent agencies.

Forms, levels, competence and procedures for sanctioning acts of infringement and remedial measures must comply with the Law on Intellectual Property and the law on sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of copyright and related rights.

3. Criminal measures shall be applied to handle acts of infringement in case such acts have sufficient crime constituents specified in the Penal Code.

The competence, order and procedures for application of criminal measures must comply with the criminal procedure law.

Article 58. Exercise of the right to self-protection of copyright and related rights

1. Authors, copyright holders, performers, related rights holders and organizations and individuals authorized in accordance with law shall exercise the right to self-protection under Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property and this Article.

2. Rights management information and technological measures for rights protection specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property must comply with Articles 60 and 61 of this Decree.

3. The request for termination of acts infringing upon copyright or related rights specified at Point b, Clause 1, Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall be made by authors, copyright holders, performers, related rights holders or authorized organizations and individuals by sending notices to organizations and individuals committing such acts.

Such a notice must have the following information:

a/ Names of the author, copyright holder, performer or related rights holder and authorized organization or individual (if any);

b/ Bases giving rise to copyright and related rights, copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate (if any);

c/ Scope and term of protection of copyright or related rights; and act of infringing upon copyright or related rights;

d/ Request for termination of the act of infringement; time limit for termination of the act of infringement;

dd/ Request for royalty payment and damage compensation (if any).

4. The request for competent state agencies to handle acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property must comply with Articles 75 thru 80 of this Decree.

Article 59. Presumptions about copyright and related rights

1. The first fixation of a performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast specified in Clause 2, Article 198a of the Law on Intellectual Property is a fixation that exists in physical form and on which sounds and images of the first-published performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast are fixed.

2. An individual named as the author (real name or pseudonym) on a copy of a published work or on the original of a fine-art work in a common way shall be considered the author of such work until there is evidence to the contrary.

3. For a published work not bearing the author’s name under Clause 2 of this Article, the publishing house named on its copies shall be considered the rights holder.

4. Rights holders of works specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article may make requests specified in Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property. The provisions of this Clause do not affect agreements already reached between related parties.

5. In case the original or a copy of a work or the fixation of a performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast no longer exists, the copyright holder or related rights holder specified in Clause 2, Article 198a of the Law on Intellectual Property shall also be identified on the original or a copy of another relevant work or the fixation of a relevant performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast which states names of the author, performer, phonogram or video recording producer or broadcasting organization to a reasonable extent to affirm the rights holder.

Article 60. Rights management information

1. Providing rights management information to prevent acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights under Point a, Clause 1, Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property means the inclusion in the originals and copies of works, fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts of information identifying such works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs; information on authors, performers, copyright holders, related rights holders and exploitation or use conditions; and numbers and codes showing above information with or without technological measures for rights protection. Rights management information does not include copy user-related information on users’ names, accounts and addresses or other contact information.

Rights management information shall be attached to copies or must appear simultaneously with works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts when the latter are transmitted to the public.

2. Cases of copyright and related rights infringement with respect to rights management information are specified in Articles 28 and 35 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 61. Technological measures for rights protection

1. Technological measures for rights protection specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 198 of the Law on Intellectual Property are measures using any means, techniques, technologies, equipment or components in the course of normal operation and having main functions of marking, identifying, distinguishing and protecting copyright and related rights specified in Articles 19, 20, 29, 30 and 31 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. Effective technological measures are technological measures for rights protection for copyright holders and related rights holders to control the use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs, through:

a/ Access control application, which is an application allowing the use of techniques, technologies, equipment or components to control the right to access protected copies;

b/ Protection protocol, which is a measure allowing the use of techniques, technologies, equipment or components to prevent or minimize the performance of any act constituting acts of infringing upon copyright or related rights to protected copies;

c/ Reproduction control mechanism, which is a measure allowing the use of techniques, technologies, equipment or components to control the making of copies from protected copies.

3. Organizations and individuals may not intentionally cancel or nullify effective technological measures taken by authors, copyright holders and related rights holders to protect their copyright and related rights specified in Clause 4, Article 28; Clause 5, Article 35; and Clause 1, Article 198, of the Law on Intellectual Property for the purpose of using works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs in contravention of the Law on Intellectual Property and this Decree. Nullifying effective technological measures covers also shirking, ignoring, eliminating, skipping, deactivating or devaluing effective technological measures in order to use works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs.

4. Clause 3 of this Article does not apply to cases of licensed access to and use of works, performances, phonograms, video recordings, broadcasts, and satellite signals carrying encrypted programs as specified in Clause 3, Article 20; Clause 5, Article 29; Clause 3, Article 30; Clause 3, Article 31, and Articles 25, 25a and 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Section 2. DISPUTES OVER COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS, IDENTIFICATION OF ACTS OF INFRINGING UNPON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 62. Disputes over copyright

1. Disputes between individuals over copyright to literary, artistic, scientific and derivative works.

2. Disputes between co-authors over division of joint authorship.

3. Disputes between copyright co-holders over division of co-holders’ rights upon exploitation, use and transfer of one, several or all of the copyrights.

4. Disputes between individuals and organizations over the holders of copyright to works.

5. Disputes between copyright holders and authors over royalties payable to authors who create works on the basis of assigned tasks or creative contracts.

6. Disputes over the exercise of moral rights or economic rights of authors or copyright holders; co-authors or copyright co-holders.

7. Disputes over copyright to computer programs or data collections between those who provide finances and material conditions crucial to the creation and development of computer programs or the collection of data and those who design or create computer programs or collect data.

8. Disputes over copyright to cinematographic works or theatrical works between those who provide finances and invest in physical-technical facilities for the production of cinematographic works or theatrical works and those who participate in the creation of, or produce, the cinematographic works or theatrical works or disputes between them over royalties and other material benefits.

9. Disputes between holders of copyright to, and users of, published works for which users are not required to ask for permission or pay royalties for the reason that the use of the works conflicts with the normal exploitation thereof and unreasonably causes damage to the lawful interests of the authors or copyright holders.

10. Disputes between holders of copyright to, and users of, published works for which users are not required to ask for permission but are required to pay royalties for the reason that the users fail to pay royalties or the use of the works conflicts with the normal exploitation thereof and unreasonably causes damage to the lawful interests of the authors or copyright holders.

11. Disputes over copyright assignment contracts, copyright licensing agreements or copyright consultancy and service contracts.

12. Disputes arising from acts of infringing upon copyright.

13. Disputes over inheritance and takeover of the economic rights specified in Article 20 and the moral rights specified in Clause 3, Article 19 of the Law on Intellectual Property

14. Other disputes over copyright in accordance with law.

Article 63. Disputes over related rights

1. Disputes over holders of rights to performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts.

2. Disputes between performers and exploiters/users of moral rights and economic rights to performances.

3. Disputes between producers of phonograms or video recordings and exploiters/users of economic rights to phonograms or video recordings.

4. Disputes between broadcasting organizations and exploiters/users of economic rights to broadcasts.

5. Disputes between performers, producers of phonograms and video recordings, or broadcasting organizations and users of related rights who are not required to ask for permission or pay royalties for the reason that the use of the performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts conflicts with the normal exploitation thereof and unreasonably causes damage to the lawful interests of performers, producers of phonograms and video recordings, or broadcasting organizations.

6. Disputes between authors, copyright holders, performers, producers of phonograms and video recordings, or broadcasting organizations and users of related rights who are not required to ask for permission but are required to pay royalties for the reason that the users fail to pay royalties or the use of the performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts  conflicts with the normal exploitation thereof and unreasonably causes damage to the lawful interests of performers, producers of phonograms and video recordings, or broadcasting organizations.

7. Disputes over related rights assignment contracts, related rights licensing agreements or related rights consultancy and service contracts.

8. Disputes arising from acts of infringing upon related rights.

9. Disputes over inheritance of related rights.

10. Other disputes over related rights as prescribed by law.

Article 64. Bases for determination of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

Bases for determination of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Articles 28 and 35 of the Law on Intellectual Property:

1. The subject matter under consideration falls within the scope of subject matters currently eligible for copyright and related rights protection: works eligible for copyright protection specified in Article 14 of the Law on Intellectual Property; and subject matters eligible for related rights protection specified in Article 17 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. The subject matter under consideration contains an element of copyright and related rights infringement.

3. The person performing the act under consideration is not the holder of copyright or related rights, except cases in which one of the co-authors, copyright co-holders or related rights co-holders commits an act of infringing upon the other co-authors, copyright co-holders, or related rights co-holders and is not the person permitted by law or competent authorities as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 20; Clause 5, Article 29; Clause 3, Article 30; Clause 3, Article 31; and Articles 25, 25a, 26, 32 and 33, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

4. The act under consideration occurs in Vietnam. The act under consideration is also regarded as occurring in Vietnam if it occurs on the telecommunications network and the Internet of which consumers or users exploit and use digital information contents in Vietnam.

Article 65.  Bases for determination of subject matters eligible for copyright and related rights protection

1. The subject matter eligible for protection shall be determined by examining documents and evidences proving that there are bases for the emergence of rights specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 6 of the Law on Intellectual Property and that the subject matter does not fall into the scope of subject matters ineligible for copyright protection specified in Article 15 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

2. In case copyright or related rights has/have been registered at a competent authority, the subject matter eligible for protection shall be determined according to the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate and documents accompanying that certificate.

3. In case copyright or related rights has/have not been registered at a competent authority, such copyright or related rights shall be determined under the assumption of copyright and related rights specified in Article 198a of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 59 of this Decree.

Article 66. Determination of elements of copyright infringement

1. Acts of infringing upon copyright may take one of the following forms:

a/ Infringing upon the right to title works: changing the title of a work without the permission of the author or co-authors, except translated works or unless otherwise provided by law;

b/ Infringing upon the right of attribution: impersonating the author of a work, forging the author’s name or signature, failing to attribute the author or intentionally misattribute the author or the work when exploiting/using such work;

c/ Infringing upon the right to publish works: publishing a work without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders; appropriating copyright;

d/ Infringing upon the right to protect the integrity of a work to the detriment of the author’s honor and reputation: distorting a work; modifying or mutilating a work to the detriment of the author’s honor and reputation;

dd/ Infringing upon the right to make derivative works: using an existing work as a derivative work without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law;

e/ Infringing upon the right of public performance: performing, reading, displaying, exhibiting, showing, or demonstrating works in public places or places where paid tickets or entrance fees are required without the consent of copyright holders and co-holders in accordance with law, except the cases specified in Articles 25 and 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property;

g/ Infringing upon the right to reproduce works: duplicating or making copies of a work without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law; reproducing part of a work, extracting or combining a work without the permission of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law, except the cases specified at Point a, Clause 3, Article 20, and in Articles 25 and 25a, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

h/ Infringing upon the right to distribute or import for distribution to the public: distributing or importing for distribution to the public an original work or a tangible copy thereof without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law, except the cases specified at Point b, Clause 3, Article 20, and in Article 25a, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

i/ Infringing upon the right of broadcast or communication to the public: broadcasting or communicating a work to the public via telecommunications networks and the Internet without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law, except the cases specified in Articles 25 and 25a of the Law on Intellectual Property;

k/ Infringing upon the right to lease original cinematographic works and computer programs or copies thereof: leasing an original cinematographic work or computer program or a copy thereof without the consent of the copyright holder or co-holders in accordance with law;

l/ Failing to perform or incompletely performing the legal responsibilities specified in Articles 25, 25a and 26 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

m/ Deliberately canceling or deactivating effective technological measures taken by authors or copyright holders on original works or copies thereof to protect the copyright to their works in accordance with law, except the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 20, and Articles 25 and 25a, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

n/ Manufacturing, distributing, importing, offering for sale, selling, promoting, advertising, marketing, leasing or stockpiling for commercial purposes equipment, products or components, introducing or providing services when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment, products, components or services are manufactured or used to deactivate effective technological measures for protection of copyright in accordance with law;

o/ Deliberately deleting, removing or altering rights management information without permission of the author or copyright holder when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon copyright in accordance with law;

p/ Intentionally distributing, importing for distribution, broadcasting, communicating or providing to the public copies of a work when knowing or having grounds to know that rights management information has been deleted, removed or altered without permission of the copyright holder; or when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon copyright in accordance with law;

q/ Failing to implement or improperly implementing regulations for being exempted from legal liabilities for copyright of the intermediary service providers with regard to the works specified in Clause 3, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property, Articles 113 and 114 of this Decree, and other relevant regulations.

2. The basis for determining the element of copyright infringement is the scope of copyright protection determined based on the form of presentation of the original work; or determined based on the characters, images, ways of expressing characters’ personality, images and details of the original work, in case of determining elements of copyright infringement for derivative works.

When determining elements of copyright infringement for a work, it is required to take into account the originality of the creation of the work and the expression and manifestation of ideas rather than the ideas themselves.

3. In order to determine whether a copy of a work or a work constitutes an element of copyright infringement, it is necessary to compare such copy with its original or such work with the original work, taking into account the originality of creation of the work, the expression or manifestation of creative ideas of ​​the work; the time of completion of the work; the author’s access to the existing work and timing and time of access.

A copy of a work shall be considered constituting an element of copyright infringement in the following cases:

a/ The copy is a reproduction of part or the whole of a protected work of another person;

b/ The work (part of the work) is part or the whole of a protected work of another person;

c/ The characters, images or ways of expressing characters’ personality, images and details expressed in the work or part of the work belong to a protected work of another person.

4. Products, goods and services created from the acts of infringing upon copyright specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be considered copyright-infringing products, goods and services.

5. Products created from the acts of infringing upon copyright specified at Point g, Clause 1 of this Article shall be considered pirated goods as defined in Article 213 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 67. Determination of elements of related rights infringement

1. Acts of infringing upon related rights to a performance may take one of the following forms:

a/ Infringing upon the performer’s right to be acknowledged: failing to acknowledge the performer or inaccurately acknowledging the performer in an intentional manner when performing or distributing a phonogram or video recording or broadcasting a performance, except cases in which it is impossible to acknowledge the performer in his/her/their full name for objective reasons and due to the nature, scale and genre of the performance;

b/ Infringing upon the right to protect the integrity of the performer’s image to the detriment of the honor and reputation of the performer: distorting the performer’s image; modifying or mutilating the performance to the detriment of the honor and reputation of the performer;

c/ Infringing upon the right to fix live performances: fixing a live performance without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law;

d/ Infringing upon the right to reproduce performances fixed on phonograms or video recordings: duplicating, reproducing, extracting, or combining the whole or part of a fixation of a performance without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law, except the cases specified at Point a, Clause 5, Article 29, and in Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

dd/ Infringing upon the right to broadcast or communicate to the public unfixed performances: broadcasting or communicating to the public an unfixed performance without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law, except cases in which the performance is for broadcasting purposes and the case specified in Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

e/ Infringing upon the right to distribute or import for distribution to the public the original fixations of performances or copies thereof in tangible forms: distributing or importing for distribution to the public the original fixation of a performance or a copy thereof in a tangible form without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law, except the case specified at Point b, Clause 5, Article 29 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

g/ Infringing upon the right to commercially lease to the public original performances or copies thereof which have been fixed in phonograms or video recordings: commercially leasing to the public an original performance or a copy thereof which has been fixed in phonograms or video recordings without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law;

h/ Infringing upon the right to broadcast or communicate to the public fixations of performances: broadcasting or communicating to the public a fixation of a performance without the consent of the performer as prescribed by law, except the case specified in Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

i/ The cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

2. Acts of infringing upon related rights to phonograms or video recordings may take one of the following forms:

a/ Infringing upon the right to reproduce the whole or part of phonograms or video recordings: duplicating, reproducing, extracting, or combining the whole or part of a phonogram or video recording without the consent of the holder of the rights to the phonogram or video recording as prescribed by law, except the cases specified at Point a, Clause 3, Article 30, and in Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ Infringing upon the right to distribute or import for distribution to the public original phonograms or video recordings and copies thereof in tangible forms: distributing or importing for distribution an original phonogram or video recording or a copy thereof in a tangible form without the consent of the holder of rights to the phonogram or video recording as prescribed by law, except the cases specified at Point b, Clause 3, Article 30, and in Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ Infringing upon the right to commercially lease to the public original phonograms or video recordings and copies thereof: commercially leasing an original phonogram or video recording or a copy thereof without the consent of the holder of rights to the phonogram or video recording as prescribed by law;

d/ Infringing upon the right to broadcast or communicate to the public phonograms and video recordings: broadcasting or communicating to the public a phonogram or video recording without the consent of the holder of rights to the phonogram or video recording as prescribed by law, except the case specified in Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

dd/ The cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

3. Acts of infringing upon related rights to broadcasts may take one of the following forms:

a/ Infringing upon the right to broadcast or rebroadcast: broadcasting or rebroadcasting a broadcast without the consent of the holder of rights to the broadcast as prescribed by law, except the case specified in Article 32 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ Infringing upon the right to reproduce fixations of broadcasts: receiving, decrypting, duplicating, reproducing, extracting, or combining the whole or part of a fixation of a broadcast without the consent of the holder of rights to the broadcast as prescribed by law, except the cases specified at Point a, Clause 3, Article 31, and in Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ Infringing upon the right to fix broadcasts: fixing a broadcast without the consent of the holder of rights to the broadcast as prescribed by law;

d/ Infringing upon the right to distribute or import for distribution to the public fixations of broadcasts in tangible forms: distributing or importing for distribution a fixation of a broadcast in a tangible form without the consent of the holder of rights to the broadcast as prescribed by law, except the cases specified at Point b, Clause 3, Article 31, and in Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

dd/ The cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

4. Acts of infringing upon related rights may also take one of the following forms:

a/ Failing to perform or inadequately performing the legal responsibilities specified in Articles 32 and 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ Intentionally canceling or deactivating effective technological measures taken by the related rights holders on the original fixations of performances, phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts or copies thereof to protect their rights as prescribed by law, except the cases specified in Clause 5, Article 29; Clause 3, Article 30; Clause 3, Article 31; and Article 32, of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ Manufacturing, distributing, importing, offering for sale, selling, promoting, advertising, marketing, leasing or stockpiling for commercial purposes equipment, products or components, introducing or providing services when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment, products, components or services are manufactured or used to deactivate effective technological measures for related rights protection in accordance with law;

d/ Intentionally deleting, removing or altering rights management information without permission of related rights holders when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such act will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon related rights in accordance with law;

dd/ Intentionally distributing, importing for distribution, broadcasting, communicating or providing to the public performances, fixed copies of performances, or phonograms, video recordings or broadcasts when knowing or having grounds to know that rights management information has been deleted, removed or altered without permission of the related rights holder; or when knowing or having grounds to know that the performance of such acts will instigate, enable, facilitate or conceal acts of infringing upon related rights as prescribed by law;

e/ Manufacturing, assembling, transforming, distributing, importing, exporting, offering for sale, selling or leasing equipment or systems when knowing or having grounds to know that such equipment or systems is/are used to or mainly help illegally decrypt encrypted program-carrying satellite signals as prescribed by law;

g/ Intentionally receiving or subsequently distributing encrypted program-carrying satellite signals when the signals have been decrypted without permission of the lawful distributor as prescribed by law;

h/ Failing to implement or improperly implementing regulations for being exempted from legal liability for related rights of intermediary service providers with respect to performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts as specified in Clause 3, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property, Articles 113 and 114 of this Decree, and relevant regulations.

5. The basis for determination of elements of related rights infringements is the scope of related rights protection which has been determined based on the form of the first fixation of the relevant performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast.

6. In order to determine whether or not a copy or fixation of a performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast constitutes an element of related rights infringement, it is necessary to compare the copy or the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast with the original of the first fixation of the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast; the time of completion and fixation of the performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast; the author’s access to, timing of, and time of access to, the fixation of the existing performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast.

A copy of a fixation of a performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast shall be considered an element of infringement in the following cases:

a/ The copy is the reproduction of part or the whole of the first fixation of a protected performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of another person;

b/ The work (part of the work) is part or the whole of the first fixation of a protected performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast of another person.

7. Products, goods and services created from acts of infringing upon related rights specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article shall be considered related rights-infringing products, goods and services.

8. Products created from the acts of infringing upon related rights specified at Point d, Clause 1, Point a Clause 2, and Point b Clause 3, of this Article shall be considered pirated goods as specified in Article 213 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 68. Bases for determination of the nature and severity of infringement

1. The nature of infringement specified in Clause 1, Article 199 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall be determined on the following bases:

a/ Circumstances and motives of the infringement: unintentional infringement, intentional infringement, infringement due to the state of being controlled or depending on others, first-time infringement, recidivism;

b/ Methods of committing acts of infringement: individual infringement, organized infringement, committing acts of infringement by oneself, bribing, deceiving, or forcing others to commit acts of infringement.

2. The severity of infringement specified in Clause 1, Article 199 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall be determined on the following bases:

a/ Scope of territory, time, volume and scale of committing acts of infringement;

b/ Impacts and consequences of acts of infringement.

Section 3. DETERMINATION OF DAMAGE CAUSED BY INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 69. Principles for determining damage caused by infringement of copyright and related rights

1. Damage caused by acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Article 204 of the Law on Intellectual Property is the actual material and spiritual loss caused directly by the act of infringement to the owner of copyright and related rights.

2. It is considered to have actual loss in case the following bases are sufficient:

a/ The material or spiritual benefit is real and belongs to the aggrieved person: The material or spiritual benefit is the result (product) of copyright or related rights and the aggrieved person is the person entitled to such material or spiritual benefit;

b/ The aggrieved person is able to obtain the benefit specified at Point a of this Clause: The aggrieved person would obtain (gain) such material or spiritual benefit under certain conditions if acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights did not occur;

c/ There is a decrease in or loss of benefits of the aggrieved person after the act of infringement of copyright or related rights occurs as compared to the ability to obtain such benefit in case the act of infringement does not occur and the act of infringement is the direct cause of such decrease or loss: Before the act of infringement occurred, the aggrieved person had had the material or spiritual benefit and after the act of infringement occurred, the aggrieved person suffers a decrease in or loss of the benefit he/she gained prior to the occurrence of the act of infringement; there is a causal relationship between the act of infringement and the decrease in or loss of such benefit.

3. The extent of damage shall be determined in conformity with the rights infringement elements with regard to the subject matter of copyright and related rights.

The extent of damage shall be determined based on the evidence of damage provided by the parties, including also the results of assessment and the declaration of damage, which must clarify the grounds for determining and calculating the extent of damage.

Article 70. Spiritual damage

Spiritual damage is damage to honor, dignity, prestige, reputation, and other spiritual harms caused to authors, performers, copyright holders, and related rights holders who, due to infringement of copyright or related rights, suffer damage to their honor or dignity and decrease in, or loss of, credibility, prestige, or reputation and trust as being misunderstood, time of suffering loss, the degree of grief, sadness, and emotional loss, and to the extent that the infringer must apologize, make public corrections, and compensate for spiritual damage.

Article 71. Property damage

1. Property damage shall be determined based on the degree of reduction or loss in the monetary value of the protection-eligible subject matter of copyright or related rights.

2. The monetary value of the subject matter of copyright or related rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be determined based on one or all of the following bases:

a/ The price for transfer of the ownership or the right to use the subject matter of copyright or related rights;

b/ The value of contribution of capital by copyright and related rights;

c/ The value of copyright and related rights in the total assets of the enterprise;

d/ The value of investment in research, creation and development to create works and subject matters of related rights, including costs of investment, research, technical equipment, physical facilities, marketing, advertising, labor, tax and other expenses.

3. The determination of the monetary value of the subject matter of copyright and related rights specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be carried out by a price appraisal enterprise in accordance with the law on price appraisal. The price appraisal results of the price appraisal enterprise shall serve as one of the bases for competent organizations and individuals to consider and decide on, or approve, the prices of the assets to be appraised.

Article 72. Decline in incomes and profits

1. Incomes and profits specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 204 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ Incomes and profits obtained from direct or indirect exploitation and use of the subject matters of copyright and related rights;

b/ Incomes and profits obtained from lease of the subject matters of copyright or related rights which are original cinematographic works or computer programs or copies thereof;

c/ Incomes and profits obtained from the licensing of copyright and related rights;

d/ Incomes and profits obtained from the transfer of ownership of copyright and related rights.

2. The level of decline in incomes and profits shall be determined on one or all of the following bases:

a/ Affecting the normal exploitation of a work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast: comparing the actual number of copies consumed or supplied before and after the occurrence of the act of infringement; comparing the frequency of exploiting, using, publicly distributing, broadcasting, communicating, and accessing the work, performance, phonogram, video recording or broadcast before and after the occurrence of the act of infringement; comparing the number of users and subscribers before and after the occurrence of the act of infringement;

b/ Comparing the actual selling price on the market of the copy before and after the occurrence of the act of infringement;

c/ Unreasonably causing damage to the lawful interests of the rights holder: directly comparing revenues from the exploitation and use of the subject matter of copyright and related rights before and after the occurrence of the act of infringement, corresponding to each type of income specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 73. Loss of business opportunities

1. Business opportunities specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 204 of the Law on Intellectual Property include:

a/ The possibility of generating profits and increasing brand value through actual use and direct exploitation of the subject matter of copyright and related rights in business activities; number of users;

b/ The possibility of generating profits and increasing brand value through advertising and marketing with the use of the subject matter of copyright and related rights;

c/ The possibility of generating profits and increasing brand value through leasing to others the subject matter of copyright or related rights being the original cinematographic work, computer program, phonogram or video recording or copies thereof;

d/ The possibility of generating profits and increasing brand value through the actual transfer of the right to use the subject matter of copyright and related rights, and the assignment of the subject matter of copyright and related rights to others;

dd/ Other business opportunities that are lost directly due to acts of infringing upon copyright or related rights.

2. Loss of business opportunities is damage to the monetary value of the incomes the aggrieved person could have obtained in case the possibilities specified in Clause 1 of this Article are realized but in fact did not obtained due to acts of infringing upon copyright or related rights.

Article 74. Reasonable expenses to prevent and remedy damage

Reasonable expenses to prevent and remedy damage specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 204 of the Law on Intellectual Property include expenses for custody, preservation, and storage of infringing goods, expenses for implementing temporary emergency measures, reasonable expenses for hiring lawyers, reasonable expenses for hiring assessment services, preventing and remedying acts of infringement, and expenses for notifying and make public corrections in the mass media relating to acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights.

Section 4. REQUESTS FOR HANDLING OF ACTS OF INFRINGING UPON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS AND AND SETTLEMENT THEREOF

Article 75. Written requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

1. A written request for handling of an act of infringing upon copyright and related rights must have the following principal contents:

a/ Date of making;

b/ Name and address of the organization or individual requesting the handling of the infringing act; full name of the representative if the request is made through a representative;

c/ Name of the request-receiving agency;

d/ Name and address of the organization or individual that commits the infringing act; name and address of the organization or individual suspected of having committed the infringing act in case of requesting suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing upon copyright or related rights;

dd/ Name and address of the organization or individual with related rights and interests (if any);

e/ Name and address of the witness (if any);

g/ Brief information on infringed copyright or related rights: rights, grounds for such rights to arise, and brief information on the rights subject matter;

h/ Brief information on the infringing act: date and place of occurrence of the infringement, brief description of infringed copyright or related rights subject matter, and the infringing act; website address and link for the act of infringing upon copyright and related rights on the telecommunications network environment and the Internet, and other information (if any).

i/ The request for application of the measure for handling the infringing act;

k/ A list of documents and evidences attached to the request;

l/ Signature of the requester appended with a seal (if any).

2. Written requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights must be accompanied with the documents and evidences specified in Article 76 of this Decree in order to prove such requests.

Article 76. Documents and evidences accompanying written requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

1. A requester for handling of an act of infringing upon copyright and related rights shall send a written request for handling of such act together with the following documents and evidences to prove its/his/her request:

a/ Evidences proving that it/he/she is the copyright holder or related rights holder in case the requester is the author, performer, copyright holder, related rights holder or a rights assignee or person that inherits or takes over copyright or related rights;

b/ Evidences proving the occurrence of the act of infringing upon copyright or related rights; evidences proving the suspicion that imported or exported goods infringe upon copyright or related rights, for written requests for suspension of customs procedures;

c/ Other documents and evidences.

2. A notarized or authenticated power of attorney is required if the request for handling of an infringing act is made through an authorized representative or papers proving the status of the legal representative is required if the request for handling of an infringing act is made through such legal representative.

Article 77. Evidences proving copyright holders and related rights holders

1. Evidences proving the status of the holder of registered copyright or related rights shall be one of the following documents:

a/ A copy of the copyright registration certificate or related rights registration certificate enclosed with the original for collation, except where such copy has been authenticated;

b/ An extract of the National Register of copyright and related rights or a copyright certification issued by a competent state agency.

2. Evidences proving the status of the holder of unregistered copyright or related rights shall be documents, objects and information on grounds giving rise to copyright or related rights specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 6 of the Law on Intellectual Property, specifically as follows:

a/ The original work, fixation of the performance, phonogram, video recording, broadcast or encrypted program-carrying satellite signal bearing the name of the rights holder specified in Article 198a of the Law on Intellectual Property and Article 59 of this Decree or a copy thereof;

b/ Other documents proving the creation, publication, performance, distribution, broadcasting or communication of the above subject matter and accompanying documents and evidences (if any).

3. In case a person requesting handling of an infringing act is the copyright or related rights assignee or a person who inherits or takes over such rights in accordance with law, in addition to the documents specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the original or a notarized, authenticated or consularly legalized copy of the contract on assignment, donation, purchase and sale, capital contribution or licensing of copyright or related rights or a document determining the right to inherit or take over such copyright or related rights is required.

Article 78. Evidences proving copyright and related rights infringements

1. The following documents and objects are regarded as evidences proving infringements:

a/ Original works, performances, phonograms, video recordings and broadcasts (subject matters eligible for copyright and related rights protection) or lawful copies thereof;

b/ Relevant documents or objects, photos, phonograms and video recordings of subject matters under consideration;

c/ Written explanations and comparisons between subject matters under consideration and subject matters eligible for copyright and related rights protection;

d/ Minutes, statements, deeds and other documents proving infringements.

2. Documents and objects specified in Clause 1 of this Article must be included in lists signed by persons requesting handling of infringements.

Article 79. Responsibilities of persons requesting handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

Persons requesting handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights shall guarantee and bear responsibility for the truthfulness of information, documents and evidences that they provide.

Article 80. Filing and settlement of written requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

1. Written requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights shall be filed to agencies competent to handle infringing acts specified in Article 200 of the Law on Intellectual Property (below referred to as infringing act-handling agencies).

2. After receiving a written request for handling of an infringing act, if deeming that such written request falls under another agency’s jurisdiction, the written request-receiving agency shall guide the requester to file such written request to the competent agency or forward it to the competent agency within 10 days after receiving such written request.

3. In case a written request for handling of an act of infringing upon copyright and related rights lacks necessary documents, evidences and objects, the infringing act-handling agency shall request the requester to add necessary documents, evidences and objects and set a reasonable time limit which must not exceed 30 days for the latter to add necessary documents, evidences and objects.

4. In the following cases an infringing act-handling agency shall refuse to settle a written request for handling of an infringing act, clearly stating reasons for refusal:

a/ Upon the expiration of the time limit specified in Clause 3 of this Article but the infringing act handling requester still fails to satisfy the requirement of the infringing act-handling agency on addition of necessary relevant documents, evidences and objects;

b/ The statute of limitations for handling of the act of infringing upon copyright and related rights has expired in accordance with law;

c/ Results of the verification by the infringing act-handling agency or public security agency reveal that there is no infringing act as described in the written request;

d/ The competent agency issues a document on the lack of grounds for the handling of the infringing act.

5. In case there is a dispute over or a complaint about the rights holder, the subject matter eligible for protection, scope and term of copyright and related rights protection, the agency that received a written request for handling of an act of infringing upon copyright or related rights shall guide the requester in carrying out procedures for requesting the settlement of such dispute or complaint at a competent agency within 10 days after the occurrence of the dispute.

Section 5. HANDLING OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS INFRINGEMENTS

Article 81. Determination of value of copyright- and related rights-infringing goods 

1. Copyright- and related rights-infringing goods are defined as follows:

a/ An infringing good is a segment or detail (below referred to as part) of a product that contains an element of infringement and can be circulated as an independent product;

b/ An infringing good is the whole product containing an element of infringement in case such element of infringement cannot be separated as part of such product to be independently circulated under Point a of this Clause.

2. The value of copyright- and related rights-infringing goods shall be determined by infringing act-handling agencies upon the occurrence of infringing acts and based on the following order of priority:

a/ Listed prices of infringing goods;

b/ Actual sale prices of infringing goods;

c/ Costs of infringing goods in case they are not put into circulation;

d/ Import prices of infringing goods.

3. The value of copyright- and related rights-infringing goods shall be calculated for parts (segments or details) of infringing products specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article or the value of the whole infringing products specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

4. In case the application of the grounds specified in Clause 2 of this Article is no longer appropriate or the infringing act-handling agency and the financial agency at the same level fail to reach consensus on determination of the value of infringing goods, the valuation shall be decided by a valuation council.The establishment, composition and working principles of valuation councils must comply with the civil procedure law, criminal procedure law and law on handling of administrative violations.

Article 82. Handling of copyright- and related rights-infringing goods

1. Regarding pirated goods, and raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading of such goods, infringement-handling agencies shall apply one of the following measures:

a/ Distributing them or putting them into use for non-commercial purposes under Article 83 of this Decree;

b/ Destroying them under Article 84 of this Decree;

c/ Compelling the removal of elements of infringement and applying the appropriate measures specified in Clause 4 of this Article on a case-by-case basis.

2. Regarding infringing goods that are not pirated goods, and raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading thereof, infringement-handling agencies shall apply the measure of compeling goods owners, carriers, stockpiling persons to remove element of infringements from such goods and apply appropriate measures specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

3. Raw materials, materials and means that have the sole function of creating or commercially exploiting pirated or infringing goods or are actually used solely for that purpose shall be regarded as raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading of pirated or infringing goods.

4. On a case-by-case basis, infringement-handling agencies shall decide to apply the measures specified at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article or at the request of rights holders, compel infringing goods manufacturers to recall infringing goods that have been put into their distribution channels before applying the measures specified at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article or other measures that are deemed appropriate. In the course of making decisions on handling of infringing acts, infringement-handling agencies may consider requests of concerned parties regarding the handling of infringing acts.

Article 83. Forcible distribution or use for non-commercial purposes

1. Forcible distribution or use for non-commercial purposes of pirated or infringing goods must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Goods are of utility value and not harmful to human health, domestic animals, plants and the environment, and other than cultural products with harmful contents;

b/ Elements of infringement have been removed from the goods;

c/ The distribution or use neither for profit-making purposes nor unreasonably affects the normal exploitation of the rights of copyright holders and related rights holders prioritizes humanitarian or charitable purposes or serves public interests;

d/ Persons who are distributed or receive such goods for use are not potential customers of copyright holders and related rights holders.

2. Clause 1 of this Article also applies to raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading of pirated or infringing goods.

Article 84. Forcible destruction

The measure of forcible destruction of pirated or infringing goods, raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading of such goods shall be applied in case the conditions for the application of the measure of forcible distribution or use for non-commercial purposes specified in Article 83 of this Decree are not fully satisfied.

Article 85. Confiscation

The measure of confiscation of pirated goods, raw materials, materials and means used mainly for the production or trading of such goods must comply with the law on handling of administrative violations.

Section 6. CONTROL OF COPYRIGHT- AND RELATED RIGHTS-RELATED IMPORTED GOODS AND EXPORTED GOODS

Article 86. The right to request the control of copyright- and related rights-related imported or exported goods

Copyright holders and related rights holders may submit directly or through their legal representatives or authorized representatives written requests for inspection and supervision to detect imported goods and exported goods showing signs of copyright and related rights infringement or written requests for suspension of customs procedures for imported goods and exported goods suspected of infringing upon copyright or related rights.

Article 87. Customs offices competent to receive written requests

Competent customs offices shall receive written requests for inspection and supervision or suspension of customs procedures under Clause 1, Article 75 of the Customs Law.

Article 88. Procedures for processing written requests

1. Within 20 days after receiving a written request for inspection and supervision of imported goods or exported goods and the documents specified in Clause 2, Article 74 of the Customs Law, or within 2 working hours after receiving a written request for suspension of customs procedures and the documents specified in Clause 3, Article 74 of the Customs Law, a customs office shall consider and issue a notice of acceptance of the written request if the requester has fulfilled the obligations specified at Points a, b and c, Clause 1 and Clause 2, Article 217 of the Law on Intellectual Property. In case of refusal to accept the written request, the customs office shall issue a written reply, clearly stating the reason.

2. Based on the General Department of Customs’ notice of acceptance of a written request for inspection and supervision of imported goods or exported goods, a provincial-level Customs Department and the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Departments shall look up data on the system to organize the inspection and supervision in the locality under their management.

3. Customs Branches shall carry out inspection and supervision to detect goods showing signs of infringing upon copyright and related rights or issue decisions on suspension of customs procedures based on written requests for suspension of customs procedures or take the initiative in suspending customs procedures under Article 89 of this Decree.

Article 89. Competence, order and procedures for taking the initiative in suspending customs procedures

1. In the course of inspection, supervision and control, if detecting clear grounds to believe that imported goods or exported goods are pirated goods, Customs Branches shall take the initiative in suspending customs procedures for such goods.

2. Customs Branches shall issue decisions on suspension of customs procedures and immediately notify such to copyright holders and related rights holders if they have contact information and to importers or exporters.

3. The period of suspension of customs procedures is 10 working days after Customs Branches issue decisions on suspension of customs procedures.

4. During the suspension of customs procedures, Customs Branches that have issued decisions on suspension of customs procedures shall:

a/ Request importers or exporters or copyright holders and related rights holders (if contact information is available) to provide goods-related documents (such as catalogs, assessment conclusions, overseas documents and results of the handling of similar cases);

b/ Take samples or permit organizations and individuals to take samples for assessment, additional assessment or re-assessment at specialized customs organizations or other assessment organizations under regulations (when necessary);

c/ Coordinate and discuss with the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism about rights holders, protectability, scope of rights protection, and the competence to handle acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights (when necessary);

d/ Report to provincial-level Customs Departments and the General Department of Customs for directing the prompt settlement of complicated cases.

5. The expiration of the period of suspension of customs procedures:

a/ In case a customs office identifies suspended goods as pirated goods and an act of infringing upon copyright and related rights as falling under its handling competence, it shall handle such act as an administrative violation in accordance with law. In case such act is determined as falling beyond its handling competence, it shall hand over such case to another enforcement agency to handle;

b/ In case of initiation of a civil lawsuit, a customs office shall abide by the court’s ruling;

c/ In case an act of infringing upon copyright and related rights is determined as showing signs of a crime in accordance with the Penal Code, a customs office shall transfer it to a competent agency for investigation and prosecution in accordance with law;

d/ In case a customs office identifies a suspended goods as not a pirated goods, it shall continue carrying out customs procedures for the goods lot and notify thereof to the concerned parties.

6. In case a customs office takes the initiative in suspending customs procedures in contravention of regulations, thus causing damage to a goods owner, it shall pay compensation and arising expenses to the goods owner in accordance with law

Article 90. Handling of goods showing signs of copyright and related rights infringement

1. In case of detecting goods showing signs of infringement or at the request of a copyright holder or related rights holder or exercising the competence to sanction administrative violations, a customs office shall issue a decision on suspension of customs procedures, and notify the copyright holder or related rights holder and goods lot owner of the suspension of customs procedures for such goods lot, clearly stating names, addresses, fax and telephone numbers of concerned parties, reasons for and period of suspension of customs procedures.

2. Customs offices shall continue carrying out customs procedures for goods lots suspended from customs procedures under Clause 3, Article 218 of the Law on Intellectual Property and in the following cases:

a/ Decisions on suspension of customs procedures are terminated or revoked under decisions on settlement of complaints and denunciations;

b/ Requesters withdraw their written requests for suspension of customs procedures.

Article 91. Procedures for control of copyright- and related rights-related imported goods and exported goods

Procedures for control of copyright- and related rights-related imported goods and exported goods must comply with this Decree and the customs law.

Chapter VI. PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Section 7. ASSESSMENT OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Article 92. Assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Assessment of copyright and related rights means competent organizations’ and individuals’ use of their professional knowledge and expertise to assess and make conclusions on matters related to copyright and related rights at the request of assessment requesters.

2. Assessment of copyright and related rights must:

a/ Identify bases giving rise to copyright and related rights under Article 65 of this Decree;

b/ Identify whether or not the subject matter under consideration can be considered constituting elements of copyright and related rights infringement as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 64 and Articles 66 and 67 of this Decree;

c/ Identify whether or not the subject matter under consideration is identical, equivalent, or similar to, mistaken for, or hardly distinguishable or reproduced from, a subject matter eligible for copyright and related rights protection;

d/ Identify the value of copyright and related rights and value of damage in accordance with the law on price.

3. Principles of assessment of copyright and related rights must comply with Clause 4, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 93. Copyright and related rights assessors

1. A copyright and related rights assessor is an individual who has sufficient knowledge and expertise to assess and make conclusions on matters related to contents to be assessed, fully satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 3, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property, and is recognized and granted a copyright and related rights assessor card (below referred to as assessor card) by a competent state agency.

2. Copyright and related rights assessors have the following rights:

a/ To refuse to perform the assessment in case relevant documents are insufficient or invalid for making assessment conclusions;

b/ To refuse to receive specimens in case such specimens are likely to cause harm to their health or too bulky while storage facilities are insufficient;

c/ To use appraisal results or expert conclusions or opinions to serve the assessment;

d/ To request individuals and organizations to provide information and documents relating to assessment objects for performance of the assessment, unless otherwise provided by law, for independent copyright and related rights assessors;

dd/ To exercise other rights in accordance with law.

3. Copyright and related rights assessors have the following obligations:

a/ To perform the assessment in adherence to the principles specified in Clause 4, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

b/ To formulate assessment dossiers; to explain assessment conclusions when requested;

c/ To preserve and retain documents and specimens related to assessment cases in accordance with law;

d/ To make independent assessment conclusions and be held responsible for their  assessment conclusions; to compensate in case of intentionally making false assessment conclusions, causing damage to related organizations and individuals;

dd/ To refuse to perform assessment if having rights and interests related to assessment objects or cases, when there are other reasons that are likely to affect the objectivity of the assessment conclusions, or in case of being obliged to refuse to perform assessment under the provisions of another law;

e/ To keep confidential information and documents as requested by assessment requesters and compensate if disclosing confidential information, causing damage to related organizations and individuals;

g/ To be held responsible before law if abusing the capacity of assessor and assessment activities for self-seeking purposes or intentionally making false assessment conclusions;

h/ To comply with regulations on the order and procedures for assessment;

i/ To make biannual and annual reports on assessment activities according to regulations and send them to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

k/ To perform other obligations in accordance with law.

Article 94. Forms of professional practice of copyright and related rights assessors

1. A copyright and related rights assessor may practice either under the name a copyright and related rights assessment organization or as an independent assessor.

2. Assessors’ forms of professional practice shall be stated in decisions on grant or re-grant of assessor cards, and the list of copyright and related rights assessors specified in Clause 6, Article 98 of this Decree.

3. Information on assessors practicing under the name of a copyright and related rights assessment organization shall be stated in the decision on grant or re-grant of the certificate of copyright and related rights assessment organization and the list of assessors of the organization specified in Clause 6, Article 99 of this Decree.

Article 95. Copyright and related rights assessment organizations

1. A copyright and related rights assessment organization is an organization satisfying the conditions specified in Clauses 2 and 2a, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property and relevant laws and granted a certificate of copyright and related rights assessment organization (below referred to as certificate of assessment organization).

2. A copyright and related rights assessment organization has the following rights:

a/ To hire copyright and related rights assessors to perform assessment on a case-by-case basis;

b/ To request organizations and individuals to provide information and materials related to assessment objects to perform the assessment, unless otherwise provided by law;

c/ To exercise other rights in accordance with law.

3. A copyright and related rights assessment organization has the following obligations:

a/ To operate in the fields of assessment as stated in its business registration certificate or operation registration certificate and certificate of assessment organization;

b/ To perform the assessment in adherence to the principles specified in Clause 4, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property;

c/ To preserve and retain documents and dossiers relating to assessment cases;

d/ To keep confidential information and documents as requested by assessment requesters and compensate if disclosing confidential information, causing damage to related organizations and individuals;

dd/ To refuse to accept assessment cases and perform assessment in case of being obliged to refuse to perform the assessment under the provisions of another law;

e/ To make biannual and annual reports on assessment activities according to regulations and send them to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

g/ To perform other obligations in accordance with law.

Article 96. Competence to grant, re-grant and revoke assessor cards and certificates of assessment organization

The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is competent to grant, re-grant and revoke assessor cards; and grant, re-grant and revoke certificates of assessment organization.

Article 97. Copyright and related rights assessment expertise testing

1. An individual who applies for an assessor card but has yet to obtain a copyright and related rights assessment expertise test pass certificate specified in Article 98 of this Decree shall hand-deliver or send by post 1 set of dossier of registration for assessment expertise testing to the office of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Such a dossier must comprise:

a/ A registration form for copyright and related rights assessment expertise testing (made according to Form No. 09 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A certified copy or a copy from the register of the applicant’s graduate or postgraduate diploma;

c/ A letter of certification of the applicant’s actual process of professional practice in assessment-related fields, which must be at least 5 consecutive years, or 15 consecutive years, for those entitled to exemption from assessment expertise testing specified in Clause 5 of this Article, issued by the applicant’s employer.

d/ Two 3cm x 4cm color portrait photos;

dd/ A letter of request for exemption from assessment expertise testing, for those entitled to exemption from assessment expertise testing under Clause 5 of this Decree.

2. Within 20 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall notify the acceptance of the dossier and establish an Assessment Expertise Testing Council. In case of refusal, it shall reply in wiring, clearly stating the reason.

3. Assessment Expertise Testing Council

a/ The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall issue a decision on establishment of the Assessment Expertise Testing Council (below referred to as the Testing Council) based on the proposal of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

b/ The Testing Council has a chairperson and members. The total number of members of the Council must be an odd number and at least 5. The chairperson of the Testing
Council is the head of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; members of the Testing Council are experienced and prestigious experts in the field of copyright and related rights.

4. Contents of assessment expertise testing

 An assessment expertise test must cover legal knowledge and specialized knowledge of assessment of copyright and related rights.

5. Subjects eligible for exemption from assessment expertise testing

Those who have at least 15 consecutive years’ experience in compiling and guiding the implementation of legal documents on copyright and related rights; or inspecting and settling disputes over, and complaints and denunciations about, copyright and related rights in the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall be exempt from assessment expertise testing.

6. Announcement of assessment expertise test results

Assessment expertise test results shall be announced on the website of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Within 30 days after an assessment expertise test is organized, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall issue test result certificates to those who pass the test.

Article 98. Procedures for grant, re-grant and revocation of assessor cards

1. Individuals who satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 3, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property and apply for assessor cards shall hand-deliver or send by post 1 set of dossier of application for copyright and related rights assessor cards to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Such a dossier must comprise:

a/ An application for a copyright and related rights assessor card (made according to Form No. 10 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ An original or a certified copy of the assessment expertise test pass certificate or the Testing Council’s letter of approval of exemption from assessment expertise testing;

c/ Two 3cm x 4cm color portrait photos.

2. Within 20 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall issue a decision on grant of an assessor card. In case of refusal, it shall reply in writing, clearly stating the reason. Copyright and related rights assessor cards shall be made according to Form No. 11 provided in Appendix III to this Decree.

3. Validity of assessor cards: An assessor card shall be valid from the date it is granted.

4. Re-grant of assessor cards:

a/ An assessor card shall be re-granted only in case it is lost or damaged or the information stated therein is changed.

b/ An assessor requesting the re-grant of his/her assessor card shall hand-deliver or send by post a request for re-grant of a copyright and related rights assessor card (made according to Form No. 10 provided in Appendix III to this Decree) and the documents specified at Points a and c, Clause 1 of this Article to the office of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In case of requesting re-grant of a damaged card, the damaged card must be returned;

c/ The time limit for re-grant of an assessor card is 20 days after a valid dossier is received.

5. An assessor card shall be revoked in the following cases:

a/ The holder of the assessor card no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Article 93 of this decree;

b/ The holder of the assessor card commits law violations while performing assessment and is subject to revocation of the assessor card at the request of a competent state agency in accordance with law;

c/ There are evidences that the assessor card is granted in contravention of law.

6. The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall, based on decisions on grant, re-grant and revocation of copyright and related rights assessor cards, make a list of copyright and related rights assessors and publish such list on its website.

Article 99. Procedures for grant, re-grant and revocation of certificates of assessment organizations

1. An organization that satisfies the conditions specified in Clauses 2 and 2a, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property and relevant laws and applies for a certificate of assessment organization shall hand-deliver or send by post 1 set of dossier of application for a certificate to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Such a dossier must comprise:

a/ An application for a certificate of copyright and related rights assessment organization (made according to Form No. 12 provided in Appendix III to this Decree);

b/ A certified copy or a copy from the register of the applicant’s operation registration certificate or establishment decision granted by the competent state agency;

c/ Certified copies or copies from the register of recruitment decisions or labor contracts or employment contracts between the assessment organization and assessors working for the organization.

2. Within 20 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall issue a decision on grant of a certificate of assessment organization. In case of refusal, it shall notify in writing, clearly stating the reason. Certificates of copyright and related rights assessment organization shall be made according to Form No. 13 provided in Appendix III to this Decree.

3. Validity of certificates of assessment organizations: A certificate of assessment organization is valid from the date it is granted.

4. Re-grant of certificates of assessment organization

a/ A certificate of assessment organization shall be re-granted only when it is lost or damaged or the information stated therein is changed;

b/ An assessment organization requesting the re-grant of its certificate of assessment organization shall hand-deliver or send by post a request for re-grant of the certificate to the office of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The request for re-grant of the certificate of copyright and related rights assessment organization shall be made according to Form No. 12 provided in Appendix III to this Decree.

Certified copies or copies from the register of recruitment decisions or labor contracts or employment contracts between the assessment organization and assessors working for the organization (in case there is a change in the contents stated in the granted certificate).

In case of requesting re-grant of a damaged certificate, the damaged certificate shall be returned. In case of requesting re-grant of a certificate due of change in information stated therein, the requester must have lawful document proving such change and return the granted certificate;

c/ The time limit for re-grant of a certificate of assessment organization is 20 days after the complete and valid dossier is received.

5. A certificate of assessment organization shall be revoked in one of the following cases:

a/ The assessment organization no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Article 95 of this Decree;

b/ The assessment organization commits law violations in assessment operations and is subject to  revocation of the certificate of assessment organization at the request of a competent state agency in accordance with law;

c/ There are evidences that the certificate of assessment organization is granted in contravention of law;

d/ The assessment organization terminates its assessment operations.

6. The specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall, based on decisions on grant, re-grant and revocation of certificates of assessment organization, make and update the list of assessment organizations and publish the list on its website.

Article 100. Request for assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Organizations and individuals having the right to request copyright and related rights assessment include:

a/ Holders of copyright and related rights;

b/ Organizations and individuals that are the objects of requests for handling of acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights or complains or denunciations about copyright and related rights;

c/ Other organizations and individuals involved in disputes over, infringements upon, or complaints and denunciations about, copyright and related rights.

2. Organizations and individuals having the right to request assessment specified in Clause 1 of this Article may request by themselves, or authorize other organizations and individuals to request assessment organizations or assessors to perform the assessment.

3. A copyright and related rights assessment requester has the following rights:

a/ To request an assessment organization or assessor to make an assessment conclusion according to the requested contents within the specified time limit;

b/ To request an assessment organization or assessor to explain about the assessment conclusion;

c/ To request additional assessment or re-assessment under Article 106 of this Decree;

d/ To reach an agreement on assessment expenses.

4. A copyright and related rights assessment requester has the following obligations:

a/ To sufficiently and truthfully provide documents, evidences and information relating to the assessment object at the request of the assessment organization or assessor;

b/ To clearly and specifically present issues falling within the to-be-assessed contents;

c/ To pay assessment expenses as agreed upon; to make advance payment of assessment expenses when requested by the assessment organization or assessor;

d/ To receive back the assessment object when requested by the assessment organization or assessor.

Article 101. Receipt of requests for assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Copyright and related rights assessment requesters shall submit 1 set of dossier of request for assessment to independent assessors or assessment organizations. Such a dossier must comprise:

a/ A written request for assessment, covering the following contents:

The requester’s name and address;

The serial number, date of issuance and place of issuance of the people’s identity card or citizen identity card, for individual requesters, or establishment decision or operation registration certificate, for institutional requesters;

The requester’s phone number and email address;

Capacity for requesting the assessment (author; copyright holder; related rights holder; person with related rights and interests; others);

Bases for requesting the assessment;

Object(s) and content(s) requested for assessment;

Other related contents.

b/ Accompanying documents, including:

Assessment specimen(s);

Documents proving the author, copyright holder, related rights holder, work and subject matters of related rights;

Other related documents.

2. Independent assessors or assessment organizations shall receive dossiers of request for assessment, estimate assessment expenses, negotiate and sign assessment contracts with assessment requesters, unless they refuse to perform the assessment under Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Independent assessors or assessment organizations shall refuse to perform assessment in one of the following cases:

a/ The assessment content is not specified in Clause 2, Article 92 of this Decree;

b/ The assessment falls into the cases specified at Point a, Clause 2, and Point dd, Clause 3, Article 93 of this Decree. 

Article 102. Copyright and related rights assessment service contracts

1. A request for assessment must be made in the form of an assessment service contract between the assessment requester and the assessment organization or assessor.

2. An assessment service contract must contain the following principal contents:

a/ Name and address of the assessment requester; name and address of the independent assessor or assessment organization;

b/ Object(s) and contents of the assessment request;

c/ Place and time of performance of assessment;

d/ Assessment expenses and mode of payment;

dd/ Rights and obligations of the parties;

e/ Acceptance and liquidation of the contract;

g/ Responsibility for damage compensation; mode of dispute settlement;

h/ Other conditions as agreed (if any).

Article 103. Delivery, receipt and return of objects of copyright and related rights assessment

In case the assessment request is enclosed with an assessment object, the delivery, receipt and return of the assessment object must be recorded in a minutes with the following principal contents:

1. Time and place of delivery, receipt and return of the assessment object;

2. Names and addresses of the deliverer and recipient of the assessment object or of their representatives;

3. Name of the assessment object; related documents or items.

4. Conditions and method of preservation of the assessment object upon delivery, receipt and return.

5. Signatures of the deliverer and recipient of the assessment object.

Article 104. Taking of samples for assessment of copyright and related rights

1. The assessment organization or assessor may directly take samples for assessment (particular exhibits that are elements of infringement or protected subject matters of copyright and related rights) or request the assessment requester to supply samples for assessment. The taking of samples for assessment must be recorded in a minutes to the witness of the involved parties who shall sign the minutes for certification.

2. The delivery, receipt and return of assessment samples must comply with Article 103 of this Decree.

Article 105. Performance of assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Assessment of copyright and related rights may be performed by one or more than one copyright and related rights assessor. Individual assessment means assessment performed by one assessor. Collective assessment means assessment performed by 2 or more assessors.

2. In case of individual assessment, the assessor shall perform the whole of the assessment and take responsibility for his/her assessment conclusions. In case of collective assessment of issues in the same area of expertise, the assessors shall jointly perform the assessment, sign the assessment conclusion document and jointly take responsibility for assessment conclusions; if the assessors hold divergent opinions, each assessor shall write his/her own opinion in the assessment conclusion document and be held responsible for his/her opinion. In case of collective assessment of issues in different areas of expertise, each assessor shall perform his/her job and be held responsible for his/her assessment conclusion.

Article 106. Additional assessment, re-assessment

1. Additional assessment shall be performed when the assessment conclusion is insufficient or unclear regarding the contents that need to be assessed or when new circumstances arise and need to be clarified. The request for additional assessment and the performance of additional assessment must comply with the regulations applicable to first-time assessment.

2. Re-assessment shall be performed when the assessment requester disagrees with the assessment result or upon occurrence of contradictory assessment conclusions on the same assessed issue. Re-assessment may be performed by the assessment organization or assessor that has performed the previous assessment or by another assessment organization or assessor as requested by the assessment requester.

3. In case there is a divergence among assessment conclusions or between assessment conclusions and expert opinions of the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the same assessed issue, the assessment requester may continue requesting another assessment organization or assessor to perform re-assessment.

Article 107. Advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights

1. When performing assessment of copyright and related rights, independent assessors and assessment organizations may establish advisory councils for assessment of copyright and related rights.

2. Independent assessors and assessment organizations shall select council members working in the fields related to the assessment major and issue decisions to establish advisory councils for assessment of copyright and related rights.

An advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights has a chairperson and members. The total number of members of the advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights must be an odd number and at least 3.

3. The advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights shall operate on the principle of democracy and public voting on professional issues. Members of the advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights shall collectively discuss professional issues, and their opinions must be recorded in the minutes of meetings of the advisory council for copyright and related rights.

4. The whole process of assessment consultancy of the advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights must be recorded in a working minutes signed by the chairperson and council members. The working minutes of the advisory council for assessment of copyright and related rights must be recorded in a prompt, complete and truthful manner and archived in the assessment dossier.

Article 108. Conclusions on assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Assessment conclusions specified in Clause 5, Article 201 of the Law on Intellectual Property must be made in writing.

2. An assessment conclusion document must contain the following principal contents:

a/ Name and address of the assessment organization or assessor;

b/ Name and address of the assessment requester;

c/ Object, contents and scope of assessment;

d/ Mode of assessment;

dd/ Assessment conclusions;

e/ Time and place of performance and completion of the assessment.

3. At the time agreed in the assessment contract, the independent assessor or the assessment organization must make an assessment conclusion document and send it to the assessment requester. The independent assessor and the at-law representative of the assessment organization shall sign and affix a seal into the assessment conclusion document and take responsibility for the assessment conclusion.

4. In cases of necessity to have more time to perform the assessment, the independent assessor or assessment organization shall promptly notify such in writing to the assessment requester.

Article 109. Expenses for assessment of copyright and related rights

1. Expenses for assessment of copyright and related rights according to service requests shall be agreed upon by the parties and include several or all of the following expenses:

a/ Experimental expenses;

b/ Expenses for machinery and equipment for assessment;

c/ Expenses for studying documents;

d/ Expenses for organization of discussions to collect comments and judgments;

dd/ Management expenses and other necessary expenses.

2. The collection, management and use of expenses for assessment must comply with law.

Section 8. INTERMEDIARY SERVICE PROVIDERS

Article 110. Intermediary service providers

1. Intermediary service providers specified in Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property are domestic and foreign enterprises providing one, several or all of the following services:

a/ Transmission service, which is the service of transmitting in the telecommunications network environment and the Internet digital contents provided by service users or providing access to the telecommunications network environment and the Internet;

b/ Buffer storage service, which is the service of transmitting in the telecommunications network environment and the Internet digital contents provided by service users with automatic storage, in-transit storage and temporary storage of such digital contents. The automatic storage, in-transit storage and temporary storage shall be carried out with the sole purpose of transmitting such digital contents more efficiently to other service users at their request;

c/ On-demand storage of digital contents, which is a service for service users to store digital contents they provide at their request.

2. Intermediary service providers include:

a/ Telecommunications enterprises providing the Internet access service and Internet connection service;

b/ Telecommunications enterprises providing the private leased channel service in case the private leased channel is not used to provide the services specified at Points c and d of this Clause;

c/ Enterprises leasing out server location or leasing private servers in case the servers are not used to provide the service specified at Point d of this Clause;

d/ Enterprises leasing out space for on-demand storage of digital contents;

dd/ Enterprises providing social networking services;

e/ Enterprises providing digital content search services;

g/ Other enterprises providing one, several or all of the services with similar functions specified in Clause 1, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property and Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 111. Responsibilities of intermediary service providers in protection of copyright and related rights in the telecommunications network environment and the Internet

1. An intermediary service provider specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 110 of this Decree shall develop tools for receipt of requests for removal or blocking of access to digital contents infringing copyright and related rights. A request-receiving tool may be:

a/ A computer program;

b/ A website;

c/ An email box;

d/ A portal;

dd/ Another request-receiving tool with similar functions.

The confirmation of successful submission of a request via a request-receiving tool means that the intermediary service provider has received the request.

2. An intermediary service provider shall notify its contact information for matters concerning copyright and related rights to the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and publicize such information on its website. The contact information must at least include its email address and contact phone number.

3. An intermediary service provider shall provide service users with warning about their legal liability in case of infringing upon copyright and related rights, and verify information when users register digital accounts; keep confidential user information and account information; provide user information when receiving written requests from competent state management agencies to serve the verification and handling of violations of the law on copyright and related rights.

4. Intermediary service providers specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 110 of this Decree shall remove or block access to digital contents when detecting that such digital contents infringe upon copyright and related rights as specified in Articles 113 and 114 of this Decree.

The intermediary service providers shall, when implementing the regulations at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 114 of this Decree, publicize the internal process of processing requests for removal or blocking of access to digital contents infringing copyright and related rights or requests for objecting the temporary removal or blocking of access to digital contents on their service systems.

5. Intermediary service providers shall comply with the inspection and examination by competent state management agencies in accordance with the law on copyright and related rights.

6. In case intermediary service providers exploit and use digital contents eligible for copyright and related rights protection which are posted by service users in the telecommunications network environment and the Internet for commercial purposes, they must ask for permission and pay royalties as specified in Clause 2, Article 20; Clause 4, Article 29; Clause 2, Article 30; or Clause 2, Article 31, of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Article 112. Legal liability of intermediary service providers for acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights

1. In case intermediary service providers fail to implement or improperly implement regulations for being exempted from legal liability as specified in Clause 3, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property and Articles 113 and 114 of this Decree, they shall take joint responsibility for compensating for damage caused by service users’ acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights.

2. Intermediary service providers directly committing acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Articles 28 and 35 of the Law on Intellectual Property shall bear corresponding legal liability in accordance with law.

Article 113. Process for removing or blocking access to digital contents by intermediary service providers when receiving requests from competent state agencies

1. In order to be exempted from legal liability as specified at Point c, Clause 3, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property, the intermediary service provider specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 110 of this Decree must remove or block access to digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights within 24 hours after receiving a written request from a state agency competent to handle acts of infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Article 200 of the Law on Intellectual Property or the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and, at the same time, notify the party whose digital contents are removed or blocked, and report results to the requesting agency and the specialized state management agency in charge of copyright and related rights of the Ministry of Industry and Culture, Sports and Tourism within 24 hours after processing the request.

The notification and reporting specified in this Clause must be carried out by sending paper documents or emails or in other similar forms.

2. In case the party whose digital contents are removed or blocked or the intermediary service provider opposes the request for removal or blocking of infringing digital contents, it/he/she may proceed with the procedures for filing complaints or denunciations about, and initiating lawsuits against, the competent state agency’s decision in accordance with law.

3. The request for removal or blocking of access to digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights as specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall serve as the proof that the intermediary service provider knows about digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights.

Article 114. Process for removing or blocking access to digital contents by intermediary service providers when receiving requests from copyright holders and related rights holders

In order to be exempted from legal liability as specified at Point c, Clause 3, Article 198b of the Law on Intellectual Property, the intermediary service provider specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 110 of this Decree shall comply with the following regulations:

1. Upon receipt of a request from a copyright holder or related rights holder (below referred to as the requesting party), enclosed with documents and evidences specified in Clause 4 of this Article, via the tool for receiving requests for removal or blocking of access to digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights specified in Clause 1, Article 111 of this Decree:

a/ Within 72 hours after receiving the request, the intermediary service provider shall temporarily remove or block access to the digital contents requested to be removed or blocked and notify the requesting party and the party whose digital contents are requested to be removed or blocked (below referred to as the requested party) of  the temporary removal or blocking of access to such digital contents, enclosed with the documents and evidences specified at Points a, b, c, d, dd and e, Clause 4 of this Article which are provided by the requesting party;

b/ Within 10 working days after temporarily removing or blocking access to digital contents and notifying relevant parties thereof as specified at Point a of this Clause, the intermediary service provider shall remove or block access to such digital contents if not receiving a request for objecting the temporary removal or blocking of access to digital contents, enclosed with the documents and evidences specified at Points a, b, c, dd and e, Clause 4 of this Article which are provided by the requested party; in case an intermediary service provider receives a request for objecting the temporary removal or blocking of access to digital contents, enclosed with the documents and evidences specified at Points a, b, c, dd and e, Clause 4 of this Article which are provided by the requested party, the intermediary service provider shall, within 72 hours, restore digital contents that have been removed or blocked, and forward to the requesting party the request, enclosed with documents and evidences, provided by the requested party;

c/ After the intermediary service provider forwards documents and evidences to the requesting party as specified at Point b of this Clause, if the requesting party or the requested party does not initiate a civil lawsuit or request a competent state agency to handle acts of infringement or the court or the competent state agency does not decide to accept the lawsuit or the request in accordance with law, the intermediary service provider shall continue maintaining the digital contents that have been removed or blocked.

In case the court or competent state agency decides to accept the lawsuit or request of the requesting party or the requested party, the intermediary service provider shall comply with the decision of the court or competent state agency in accordance with law.

2. For livestreamed digital contents, in case the copyright holder or related rights holder proactively provides the documents and evidences specified at Points a, b, c and e, Clause 4 of this Article to the intermediary service provider at least 24 hours before the livestream session takes place in order to stop or prevent the infringement of copyright and related rights in the telecommunications network environment and the Internet, the intermediary service provider shall:

a/ Immediately temporarily remove or block access to digital contents when receiving a request for removal or blocking of access to such digital contents; notify the requesting party and the requested party of the temporary removal or blocking of access to such digital contents, enclosed with documents and evidences provided by the requesting party;

b/ Continue to comply with Points b and c, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The notification, sending and forwarding of documents and evidences by the intermediary service provider, the requesting party and the requested party as specified in Clause 1 of this Article must be carried out via email or in other similar forms.

4. Documents and evidences specified in Clause 1 of this Article include:

a/ Information of the requesting party or the requested party: name; current address; email address; contact phone number; serial number of people’s identity card, citizen’s identity card or passport, for individuals; business registration number, establishment decision or establishment license, for organizations;

b/ Evidences of the right holders as specified in Article 77 of this Decree and commitment to taking responsibility for the lawfulness of dossiers;

c/ A digitally signed document of the requesting party or the requested party on commitment to bear all legal liabilities for the request for removal, blocking or objection, including liability to compensate for all damage, if any, to stakeholders;

d/ Evidences of the infringement of copyright or related rights as specified in Article 78 of this Decree and damage;

dd/ The requesting party shall provide information about the position and the link to digital contents infringing copyright and related rights and description of the infringing contents. The requested party shall provide information about the position and the link to the digital contents temporarily removed or blocked;

e/ A power of attorney in accordance with law, in case the requesting party or the requested party is the authorized party.

5. The request for removal or blocking of access to digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights as specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 4 of this Article shall serve as a proof that the intermediary service provider knows about digital contents infringing upon copyright and related rights.

6. Any party that provides untruthful documents and evidences, infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of other stakeholders shall bear corresponding legal liability in accordance with law.

Chapter VII. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 115. Effect

1. This Decree takes effect on April 26, 2023.

2. The Government’s Decree No. 22/2018/ND-CP of February 23, 2018, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property and the 2009 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding copyright and related rights, and the provisions on protection of rights in the fields of copyright and related rights of the Government’s Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP of September 22, 2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding protection of intellectual property rights and state management of intellectual property, the Government’s Decree No. 119/2010/ND-CP of December 30, 2010, amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP of September 22, 2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property regarding protection of intellectual property rights and on state management of intellectual property, cease to be effective on the date this Decree takes effect.

Article 116. Implementation responsibility

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, and agencies, organizations and individuals having relevant rights and obligations shall implement this Decree.

* The Appendices to this Decree are not translated.