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The National Assembly Socialist Republic of Vietnam Standing Committee Independence-freedom-Happiness
Pursuant to Article 60 and 91 of the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
This Ordinance provides regulations on copyright protection.
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
1. An author is a person who directly creates in whole or in part literary, artistic or scientific works
2. The following people are also accepted as authors :
- A translator of works from one language to another;
- An adapter of existing works, an arranger and a person who transposes works from one artistic form to another;
- A person who produces works of creativity by compiling, annotating and selecting other authors' works.
Article 2
Copyright is the moral and material right of the author.
Article 3
The State shall protect copyright for the following :
1. Vietnamese citizens' and organizations' works that have or have not yet been published;
2. foreign authors' unpublished works which are first published in Vietnam or are published in Vietnam in the period of thirty days from the date they are first published in another country, irrespective of the author's nationality and place of residence;
Works of foreign authors which are published in a foreign country and disseminated in Vietnam shall be protected under the treaties jointly signed by Vietnam or in which Vietnam participates.
Article 4
The State shall protect the copyright, irrespective of forms of expressions in the works below mentioned :
1. Written works;
2. Lectures, speeches and works that are expressed in words;
3. Dramatic works;
4. Cinema films, radio and television broadcasts and video;
5. Photographic works;
6. Music;
7. Plastic and applied fine arts;
8. Architectural works;
9. Computer software;
10. Scientific works, text books and course books;
11. Blueprints, drawings, plans and maps relating to terrain, architecture and scientific works;
12. Translated works and works of adaptation, compilation, arrangement and transposition;
13. Selected works and anthologies;
14. Other works that are protected in accordance with legal regulations.
Only original works shall be protected.
Article 5
The State shall protect copyright for authors who have their names, pen-names and works registered at the copyright protection agency. The State shall also protect copyright for unregistered authors who apply for copyright protection.
Any acts of copyright violation shall be prohibited.
Article 6 This Ordinance does not apply to :
1. Documents of State agencies and political, economic and social organizations and their translations;
2. News and current affairs;
Patents for inventions, utility solutions and industrial designs shall be protected under legal regulations on industrial property right.
Article 7
An author and a copyright owner, specified in Article 24 of this Ordinance, shall comply with legal regulations on the exercise of copyright.
The State shall not protect copyright for works whose content aims at :
1. Opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or breaking down national unity;
2. Promoting violence or war of aggression, causing hatred among peoples, or propagating reactionary ideology and culture, a decadent way of life, criminal acts, social evils or superstition detrimental to traditional customs;
3. Disclosing the secrets of the Party, State, Military, Security, economic, and foreign affairs, a citizen's private life and other secrets specified by law;
4. Misrepresenting historical facts, denying revolutionary achievements, offending against public figures, national heroes, slandering and offending against the reputation of organizations and honor and dignity of citizens.
Article 8
The copyright protection of folk, literary and artistic works shall be specified by the Government.
Article 9
In this Ordinance the terms identified below shall be understood as follows :
1. A work of joint ownership is one jointly created by two or more people.
2. Computer software is a single program or a package of programs displayed in the form of a series of commands set up in certain programming language and the related data files for giving instructions to a computer or to an informatics system to perform programmed operations. Computer software can be installed in the computer itself or saved outside the computer in such various forms as text, magnetic and optical discs.
3. Posthumous manuscript is the work left by a dead author, and has not yet been published.
4. Published work is one that has been shown to the audience in the forms of lecture, display, publication, performance and radio and television broadcasts.
5. Adapted work is one created on the basis of the content of another work;
6. Arranged work is one rewritten from an existing work;
7. Transposed work is one of which the artistic style is changed to another style;
8. Selected work is the collection from many different works of the same author;
9. Anthology is a collection of works by different authors which are published together in one book;
10. Compiled work is a compilation on one subject for comments and assessment.
11. The original is the author's first complete writing.
Chapter II Copyright
Section 1: The author's copyright
Article 10
The author has the following rights :
1. Ownership of the works he himself creates;
2. Having his name or pen-name shown on his works or referred to when the works are used;
3. Having his works completely protected, either allowing his works to be modified or not;
4. Publishing and disseminating his works or having them published and disseminated by others;
5. Taking royalties or remuneration as the works are used;
6. Allowing his works to be used by others or not and benefiting from this use.
Article 11
In case of works of co-authorship copyright shall be jointly shared.
In case the work comprises separate parts that can be split for independent use, an individual author shall have the right to use them independently and to have copyright for those separate parts, if there is no other agreement between the co-authors.
Article 12
for works edited collectively with an editor-in-chief :
1. The editor-in-chief enjoys the rights specified in Article 10 and 11 of this Ordinance;
2. The other authors enjoy the rights specified in items 1, 2 and 5 of Article 10 and Article 11 of this Ordinance and benefit from the works being in use.
Article 13
1. for works of cinema film, radio and television broadcasts, video and dramatics : the director, playwright, cameraman, musician and artist shall enjoy the rights specified in items 2, 3 and 5 of Article 10 and Article 11 of this Ordinance.
2. Any individual or organization producing works of cinema film, radio and television broadcasts, video and dramatics shall enjoy the rights provided in items 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance.
Article 14
for works created in the author's scope of responsibilities : when carrying out the duties assigned to him by his organization or those under a contract, the author shall have the rights specified in items 2, 3 and 5 of Article 10 of this Ordinance. Excep t as otherwise agreed upon by the author and the organizations assigning the duties or signing the contract, such organizations shall have the rights specified in items 1, 4 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance.
Article 15
A translator, adapter, compiler, arranger and person who transposes works shall have the copyright in accordance with the provisions in Article 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of this Ordinance; however, they have to implement the provisions below :
1. Having the agreement of the author or copyright owner of the original works;
2. Not changing the content of the original work without the author's agreement;
3. Mentioning the author's name and the original work title;
4. Paying remuneration to the author or copyright owner.
Article 16
Any individual or organization, being entitled to use others' works which have been published and disseminated for non-trading purposes and who uses such works for purposes not affecting the normal use of the work or violating the author's other rights, s hall neither have to obtain permission from the author or copyright owner nor pay them remuneration; however, they shall write or mention the author's name and original work in the following cases, that is to say when :
1. Copying the work for their own use;
2. Extracting the work for comment or illustration in their own work;
3. Extracting the work for newspaper articles, periodical publication, radio and television programs and newsreels.
4. Extracting the work for teaching and testing materials in schools;
5. Copying the work for filing, using in libraries;
6. Translating from the Vietnamese into the languages of minorities and disseminating the translated work among them.
7. Performing works of dramatics, songs and pieces of music in public in cultural, publicity and campaigning activities;
8. Live recording in sound and pictures of performances for reporting or teaching purposes;
9. Photographing or televising for the introduction of pictures, works of plastic fine art, architecture, photographs and applied fine arts to be displayed in public areas;
10. Transposing works to Braille for blind people.
The above provisions shall not be applied to the copy of architectural works in the form of architectural construction works, copyright works of plastic art and computer software.
Section 2: Terms of copyright protection
Article 17
1. Copyright comes into existence on the creation of the work in a certain form.
2. The copyright specified in items 2 and 3 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall permanently be protected.
3. The copyright specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall be protected during the lifetime of the author and a term of 50 years after is death.
4. The copyright specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall be the State's after the copyright period expires.
Article 18
for works of joint authorship, the copyright specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 Article 10 of this Ordinance shall be protected during the lifetime of the co-authors and 50 years after the death of the last author.
Article 19
The following year after the author's death as specified in Article 17 and 18 of this Ordinance shall start on 1 January.
Article 20
1. for posthumous works, copyright specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall be protected for 50 years from the day the work is first published.
2. for the work of an author who is either unknown or does not wish to have his name disclosed, the copyright shall belong to the State. If the author is defined within a period of 50 years from the day the work is first published, copyright shall be prot ected as specified in this Ordinance.
Article 21
for works of cinema films, radio and television broadcasts and video, the copyrights specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall be protected for 50 years from the day the work is first published.
Section 3: Copyright transfer
Article 22
The author has the right to transfer any part of or all the rights specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance to any individual or organization or to the State in written form.
Article 23
1. After the author dies, the heir of the copyright shall enjoy the rights provided in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance. In case an heir is lacking or refuses or is deprived of the inheritance right the copyrights provided in items 1, 4 , 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance shall belong to the State.
2. In case the author's heir dies during the period of 50 years, the next heir shall have the rights specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance until the end of the 50 year period.
Article 24
Any individual, organization or the State to whom copyright is transferred by the author is entitled to be copyright owner.
The copyright owner is entitled to transfer any part or all the rights specified in items 1, 4, 5 and 6 of Article 10 of this Ordinance. The transfer shall be in writing.
Chapter III: Contract of using copyright works
Article 25
Any individual or organization wishing to use copyright works must sign a written contract with either the author or copyright owner, except in the following cases :
1. Quoting works from periodicals, radio or television programs;
2. Quoting works as specified in Article 16 of this Ordinance.
Article 26
The contract on using the works must be written and cover the following main contents :
1. The form in which the work is to be used;
2. The scope and term of using the work;
3. The level of royalties and mode of payment;
4. Responsibility of each party in case of violation.
Other points shall be agreed upon by the two parties as necessary.
Article 27
An author and copyright owner shall have the following rights and obligations in relation to implementation of a contract :
1. To request or accept any changes to the contract, or termination of the contract with the individual or organization that is using the work;
2. When the term for use of the work has ended, but the individual or organization in question has not published and disseminated it; to terminate the contract and request the said individual or organization to compensate for the loss thereof;
3. In respect of publications, where a request for a reprint is made, but the individual or organization that is using the work rejects it; to terminate the contract and transfer the work to other individuals or organizations;
4. The transfer the work to an individual or organization for use conforming to the term specified in the contract, including where its content has been modified as agreed upon by the two parties;
5. During the term of the contract, not to transfer the work to any other individuals or organizations for use, except as provided in item 3 of this Article or otherwise agreed upon by the two parties.
6. To compensate the individual or organization using the work for loss arising out of amendments or breach of the contract.
Article 28
The individual or organization using the work shall have the following rights and obligations :
1. To publish and disseminate the work within the term agreed upon by the two parties;
2. To terminate the contract unilaterally if the work is not transferred by the author or the copyright owner in accordance with the term specified in the contract.
3. Not to transfer the work to another individual or organization without agreement from the author or copyright owner.
4. To compensate the author or the copyright owner for violations of the contract.
Chapter IV: Right of performers and producers of audio tapes, disks or video tapes and disks, and radio and television organizations
Article 29
Performers include any individual performers or organizations, stage-managers for music programs or radio or television programs, actors and actresses, singers, conductors and musicians.
Article 30
Any performer shall have the following rights :
1. His name is to be introduced where he is performing;
2. His performance image is to be protected from any distortion;
3. He may or may not allow other people to broadcast live his performance on radio or television from the place where he is performing, except when such radio or television program relates to a topical event or is for educational purposes.
4. May or may not allow others to record or film his performance for the purposes of making copies.
5. To have remuneration from utilization of any items as mentioned under section 3 and 4 of this Article for commercial purposes.
Article 31
Any performer shall have the following obligations :
1. He requires permission from the author or the owner of copyright in work which is not yet published to use such work for his performance, and is to required pay the author for such use;
2. He does not require permission from the author or the copyright owner of work that has been published to use such work for his performance, but is required to pay the author for such use.
Article 32
Any organizations who produce audio tapes and disks or video tapes an disks shall be entitled to allow or not allow others to multiply or publish their works in order to benefit from utilization of such work.
The period or protection for the rights as stipulated in this Article shall be 50 years from the date of the first publication of the audio tapes and disks or video tapes and disks.
Article 33
Any organizations producing audio tapes and disks or video tapes and disks, when using other's work for production of its program, are required to abide by the following stipulations :
1. In respect of any work which has not been published, such organization must sign a contract with its author or the copyright owner and pay royalties;
2. In respect of any published work, such organization shall not have to ask for permission from the author or copyright owner, but the names of the author and performer should be shown to ensure the integrity of the work and to pay remuneration to the au thor.
3. In respect of a performer, such organization shall have to sign a contract with and pay remuneration to the performer.
Article 34
Audio tapes and disks or video tapes and disks as stipulated under this Ordinance include any kinds of tapes and disks on art, except for computer software.
Article 35
Radio and television organizations have the following rights over any radio and television program made by them :
1. They may or may not allow the re-broadcast of their programs;
2. They may or may not allow copies to be made of their programs for the purposes of business and deriving benefit from the performance of such programs.
The period of protection for the rights as stipulated in this Article shall be 50 years from the date of the first broadcast of such radio or television program.
Article 36
Any radio or television organizations using others' works for their programs, must abide by the following stipulations :
1. In respect of any work which has not been published such organizations must obtain approval from the author or the copyright owner and pay royalties;
2. In respect of any work which has been published such organizations shall not have to get permission from the author or the copyright owner, but the names of the author and performer must be shown to ensure the integrity of the work and royalty must be paid;
3. In respect of any arrangement or transposition works, such organizations shall have to pay royalties to the author who has made the arrangement or transposition, and at the same time, pay the author or the copyright owner of the original work.
Article 37
Any rights of foreign performers or organizations producing audio tapes and disks or video tapes and disks or radio and television programs, which have been published or performed in Vietnam, shall be protected by The Socialist Republic of Vietnam under the international treaties which Vietnam has signed or in which Vietnam participates.
Chapter V State management over copyright protection
Article 38
The Government exercises unified State management over copyright protection in the whole country.
State management over copyright protection includes :
1. Submission of draft laws and ordinances on copyright;
2. Promulgation of legal documents, policies and systems on copyright;
3. Supervision, inspection and settlement of violations of copyright;
4. International co-operation on copyright.
Article 39
The Ministry of Culture and Information shall co-ordinate with relevant governmental ministries and institutions in the exercise of its function on State management over copyright protection in the whole country and shall have the following tasks and rig hts :
1. To prepare for submission to the Government draft laws, ordinances and other legal documents on copyright;
2. To promulgate in its capacity legal documents on copyright protection;
3. To register and manage copyright protection;
4. To take over examination, inspection and settlement of violations of copyright;
5. To conduct international cooperation on copyright.
Article 40
People's Committee of provinces/cities under central Government shall exercise State management over copyright protection in their localities in accordance with Government regulations.
Chapter VI Handling of claims, disputes and violations
Article 41
Authors and copyright owners having registered or filed applications for copyright protection are entitled to lodge complaints, if any, to State offices in relation to the protection of their benefits.
Article 42
Authors and copyright owners, whose copyright is violated, have the right:
1. To request the violator(s) to put an end to the activity, to apologize, to run public correction(s) or to compensate for the damages;
2. To request the competent Sate management authorities to settle the question in accordance with the laws;
3. To commence legal proceedings in the People's Court.
Article 43
Any violators of the copyright stipulated in this Ordinance shall, depending on the seriousness of the violation, be subject to administrative fines or penal prosecutions.
Article 44
Disputes over copyright may be resolved at competent State management authorities or at the Court of the relevant province/city under central Government.
Article 45
Disputes involving foreigners in relation to copyright protection shall be resolved at competent State management authorities or at the People's Courts of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City in accordance with Vietnamese laws and international conventions to which Vietnam is a signatory or a participant.
Chapter VII Implementation provisions
Article 46
This Ordinance shall take effects as from the date of promulgation. All earlier provisions in contrary to this Ordinance shall be repealed.
Article 47
The Government shall determine details for the execution of this Ordinance.
Hanoi, December 2nd, 1994
The National Assembly Office certifies this copy
True copy of the original for and on behalf of the National
Empowered by the National Assembly Standing Committee
Assembly Office
for and on behalf of
the Director
of Administration Department Chairman
Deputy Director NONG DUC MANH
NGUYEN TRONG THU