In recent years, there have been more and more disputes related to music copyright. This shows that the song writers have begun to pay more attention to protecting the results of their creative labor. In addition, the fact that many music websites develop tools to control music copyright that also make organizations and individuals more aware of copyright when using other people's musical works.
According to Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law, musical works are one of the types of works which protected. Thus, a music copyright is a copyright to a musical work.
In addition, Article 10 of Decree No. 22/2018/ND-CP of the Government dated February 23, 2018 also defines musical works as follows: “Musical works specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law means works presented in the form of musical notes in musical pieces or other musical characters or fixed in phonograms and video recordings, with or without lyrics, regardless of whether they are performed or not”.
The governing law on music copyright in Vietnam is the Law on Intellectual Property and its guiding documents. The Law on Intellectual Property has 06 chapters to stipulate issues related to copyright as follows:
- Conditions for protection of copyright.
- Contents of, limitations on and term of protection of copyright.
- Copyright holders.
- Transfer of copyright .
- Certificates of registered copyright.
- Representation, consultancy and services regarding copyright.
According to the provisions of Article 45 of the Law on Intellectual Property, selling of music copyright means the copyright owner transfers ownership rights to another organization or individual under a contract or in accordance with relevant laws.
According to the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property, music copyright shall arise at the moment a musical work is created and fixed in a certain material form, irrespective of its content, quality, form, mode and language and irrespective of whether or not such work has been published or registered. Filing an application for a copyright registration certificate for musical works is not a mandatory procedure. However, an organization or individual that has been granted a copyright registration certificate will not be obliged to prove that the copyright belongs to them in the event of a dispute, unless there is evidence to the contrary.
Organizations and individuals can check who is music copyright holder before buying through the following channels:
- A certificate of copyright registration issued by the Copyright Office.
- Contact Vietnam Copyright Protection Music Center (VCPMC for short) to find out information about the author.
- Look up information about the author on the internet.
Where can you buy the copyright of the musical works?
To purchase the music copyright, you need to contact music copyright holder directly. In the case of a musical work with a co-owner, the transfer must be agreed upon by all co-owners; In case there is a co-owner but the musical work has separate parts that can be separated for independent use, the copyright owner has the right to sell the copyright for his separate part to the other organizations and individuals.
However, it is difficult for organizations and individuals wishing to purchase music copyrights to contact and work directly with the music copyright holder in many cases. Currently, musicians tend to authorize VCPMC to work on their behalf with organizations and individuals that wish to use or purchase music copyright. Therefore, you can contact VCPMC to work directly on the issue of purchasing music copyright if the musician of that musical work has authorized VCPMC, at the addresses below:
- Head office: 8th floor, 66 Nguyen Van Huyen Street, Nghia Do Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi City.
- Branch in Ho Chi Minh City: 42 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
- Representative office in Da Nang City: 168 Ly Tu Trong Street, Thanh Binh Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City.
Form of contract on selling and buying music copyright
A contract on selling and buying music copyright must be made in writing and includes the following main details: Full name and address of the seller and buyer, the basis for the trading, price, payment method, rights and obligations of the parties, liability for breach of contract.
How much does it cost to buy a music copyright?
The price of buying and selling music copyright will depend on the popularity and value of that musical work on the market at a certain place, at a certain time, for a certain purpose and as agreed by the parties.
When buying a music copyright, buyer becomes the music copyright owner and gets exclusive rights to the economic rights and the right to publish the song for the term of the musical work's protection as follows: During the life of the author and for 50 years following the year of the author's death; In the case of a work with co-authors, the term of protection shall terminate in the 50th year after the year of death of the last co-author.
After the expiration of the term of music copyright protection, any organization or individual has the right to use the musical work provided that it respects and does not infringe the moral rights of the author of musical work.
As mentioned above, buying a music copyright is the transfer of the music copyright owner from one person to another. Therefore, there is no time limit when buying and selling music copyrights.
According to the provisions of Point b, Clause 1, Article 20 of the Intellectual Property Law, the performance of the musical work in public is the right of the music copyright owner. Thus, in principle, all people who perform another person's musical work must obtain the consent of the music copyright owner, except in the case of performing in cultural activities without collecting money in any form (as specified at point e, clause 1, Article 25 of the Intellectual Property Law).
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 13 of Decree No. 131/2013/ND-CP dated October 16, 2013 of the Goverment, the act of performing musical works through audio or video recording programs or any other technical means accessible to the public without the permission of the copyright owner, shall be fined from VND 10 millions to VND 15 millions. In addition, the infringing person is also forced to remove the infringing audio or video recording.
CÔNG TY LUẬT TNHH NGỌC PHÚ
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