Hanoi (VNA) – The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee continued its fourth session in Hanoi on July 15, reviewing a draft law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Publication.
Online piracy crackdown
Presenting the bill, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lam Thi Phuong Thanh said the amendments are anchored in the Party’s policies and guidelines on institutional reform, culture and cultural industry development, digital transformation and publication modernisation. The revisions should also align with newly enacted laws, international commitments, and the next-phase socio-economic development strategies.
Tougher measures to combat copyright infringement, especially in the digital space, are among the core proposals.
NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh urged the Government to ensure the drafting body fully integrates feedback from the NA Standing Committee and the verifying agency to finalise the bill.
She urged a review to ensure the legislation conforms to the Party Central Committee Secretariat’s Directive No. 04-CT/TW and the Party’s recent guidelines to advance publication in the digital era, boost cultural industries and reading habits, and create a modern and professional publishing sector that can contribute more to cultural industry development.
Thanh also urged refining rules on the organisational and operational models of publishing houses, publication partnerships, establishment conditions, and publishers’ rights and responsibilities to foster greater autonomy, creativity and accountability while maintaining political and ideological orientation and strengthening state management.
On digital publication, she demanded a review of regulations on online publication, electronic publication, intermediary distribution services, artificial intelligence use and digital transformation, so they encourage innovation and technology uptake while enhancing copyright protection, cracking down on piracy, tackling violations effectively and improving state oversight in cyberspace.
Driving digital transformation and protecting workers' rights
Lawmakers also examined a draft law amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers under Contract.
Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the NA Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs, said the committee’s permanent members want the drafting agency to consider policies on sending highly skilled workers and experts to work overseas, while gradually dialling back the share of low-skilled and untrained workers sent abroad. The proposal is designed to sync overseas employment with Vietnam’s national workforce development strategy and domestic labour market needs.
The committee broadly backed the draft’s provisions on the rights and obligations of service providers, saying they would boost transparency and worker protection.
It did, however, seek further refinements to data management and database update rules to ensure accuracy and timeliness. It also proposed keeping the requirement that service providers guide workers on enrolling in social insurance.
The same day, deputies considered and voted to approve in principle a draft ordinance amending and supplementing several articles of the Ordinance on Litigation Costs./.
