Vietnam, Republic of Korea join hands to protect music copyright

Participants at the 2022 Vietnam-Republic of Korea copyright forum (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – The 2022 Vietnam-Republic of Korea (RoK) copyright forum was held in Hanoi on November 9, focusing on protecting music copyrights in television. 

The forum was part of a cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK to stop violations of music copyrights through inter-governmental cooperation and multilateral economic agreements. 

The forum was also the venue for the two sides to propose solutions and directions to protect copyrights in general and music copyrights in the field of television in particular.

At the event, representatives from relevant management agencies of the two countries introduced the RoK’s policies regarding copyrights in the digital era and the latest amendments and supplements made to Vietnam’s Intellectual Property Law.  

Tran Hoang, Director General of the Copyright Office of Vietnam, recalled that Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed with the RoK side an MoU on cooperation in copyrights and related rights in 2013.   

Under the MoU, the two countries have conducted many cooperative activities, including exchanging documents on legal and technical matters in the field of copyrights and related rights and cooperating in projects and events of international organizations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). 

The two sides also facilitated the exchange and collaboration between their management, law enforcement and supporting agencies in the field.  

The cooperation has helped strengthen the protection of copyrights and related rights in the use of music works, performances, audio and video records, broadcasting programmes, and the development of the cultural industry in the two countries.

Director General Hoang said the digital and internet era has created more opportunities for people to access music works, performances, audio and video records, and broadcasting programmes at any time and place of their choice. At the same time, more challenges also arise in protecting copyrights and related rights in different aspects of social life, including in the television field. 

“The State’s interference is necessary to ensure the harmony of interest between owners of music copyrights and TV broadcasters when using musical works, as well as to ensure meeting the public demand, especially in the current digital environment,” Hoang said.  

Sharing the RoK’s experience, Kim Dong-eun, head of the department for trade and culture cooperation under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said infringements of copyrights have increasingly become sophisticated in many forms. Therefore, instead of monitoring to detect infringements, management agencies should focus on raising public awareness about copyrights. 

According to the official, the RoK will inaugurate a centre specializing in training and popularizing content related to copyrights in 2023, targeting school children and students. He said that better awareness would help reduce copyright infringements, adding the RoK plans to integrate copyright-related matters into school textbooks to raise students’ understanding.

Kim further said the systems supervising copyrights on digital platforms in the RoK previously operated separately, but they have been integrated into a single one. The management agency has also utilised artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect violations of copyrights automatedly. 

At the forum, experts also proposed that the legal corridor be supplemented to meet the requirements of management and enforcement of the Intellectual Property Law and international integration. 

Nguyen Thi Luu, acting executive director of the Vietnam Centre for Protection of Music Copyrights (VCPMC), asked for a new decree giving specific guidance on the obligation to pay copyright fees when using music works.  

The stipulation of copyright fee should ensure harmony between the rights and duties of all parties, the interests of owners of copyright, and the rights and interests of creators, she said, stressing that through which the law will honour intellectual property, respect the value of work, thus stimulating creativity, cultural development and national construction./.