The most voluminous decree ever governing copyright in Vietnam
On 26 April 2023, the Vietnamese Government issued long-awaited Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP guiding a number of articles of the Amended IP Law with regard to copyright and related rights ("Copyright Decree"). The Copyright Decree takes effect immediately on the issuance date and supersedes (i) Decree No. 22/2018/ND-CP1 and (ii) the section on protection of copyright and related rights in Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP,2 amended and supplemented by Decree No. 119/2010/ND-CP.3 The full text of the Copyright Decree can be accessed here.
The Copyright Decree consists of 8 chapters with 116 articles, making it the most voluminous decree ever governing copyright in Vietnam. It covers multiple issues under the Amended IP Law such as definitions/implications of different types of works or exclusive rights, copyright registration, copyright exceptions and limitations, collective management organizations (CMOs), and copyright enforcement.
Notably, the Copyright Decree provides significantly detailed guidance on copyright enforcement, especially which disputes can be classified as a copyright dispute, how to establish acts of copyright infringement, and how to calculate damages caused by infringements (accompanied by definitions of mental loss, material damage, income loss, and loss of business opportunities, and reasonable costs to prevent and remedy damages). The long, detailed section in copyright assessment is also expected to pave the way for the growth of the currently limited copyright assessment services in Vietnam.
With regard to the hot topic "ISPs", the Copyright Decree provides description, along with a non-exhaustive list of examples, organizations that can be regarded as ISPs, as well as protocols for ISPs receiving and dealing with notices from state authorities and rights holders in order to enjoy "safe harbor". The Copyright Decree therefore marks the time for ISPs to comprehensively review and refine their terms of services and the notice-and-takedown mechanism, in parallel with tackling concerns presented by recent Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP on Personal Data Protection.
We will provide more details on notable issues of the Copyright Decree in our upcoming articles. Stay tuned.
Authors: Yen Vu, Hung Tao, Ly Nguyen
Footnotes
1. Decree No. 22/2018/ND-CP dated 23 February 2018 on guidelines for certain number of articles of the IP law and law on amendments to IP law 2009 in terms of copyright and related rights.
2. Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP dated 22 September 2006 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the IP law on protection of IP rights and on state management of IP.
3. Decree No. 119/2010/ND-CP dated 30 December 2010 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 105/2006/ND-CP.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.