Copyright issues with 3 Vietnam Websites

The US Motion Picture Association has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to deal with three websites that violated US copyright regulations.

Phim47.com infringes film copyrights

Upon receiving the request, the ministry has quickly inspected websites 1. http://phim47.com, 2. http://v1vn.com and 3. http://pub.vn.
Nguyen Huu Minh, owner of phim47 and Nguyen Van Chung, owner of v1vn all rented space in which to store their hardware and data. Pub.vn was established in 2010 by Trinh Anh Tuan, who bought the domain from P.A Vietnam Company.
Owners of phim47 and v1vn downloaded movies then uploaded them onto their websites so people were able watch them online at no charge.
Pub.vn, also downloaded movies via torrent sites free of charge, and they then charged online viewers VND2,000 per movie.
“We will apply the fines and ask the website owners to remove all of the movies deemed to be in violation of the regulations, in accordance with regulation 47 regarding copyright infringement.”said Vu Xuan Thanh, inspector from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. “We handled the cases upon receiving a civil complaint,” he added, “however, if MPA, or any other foreign organisation, brings the case to court, the result could be different.”
The fine for infringement is around VND50-100 million (USD2,400-4,800).

Circular aims to tackle blogging violations

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) Tuesday issued a circular that aims to create a legal platform for dealing with violations committed by bloggers.
The circular forbids and restricts the uploading of many kinds of information on blogs, which it defines as personal e-information sites created and registered on the Internet, and used to display personal information to store, exchange, or share with a group of people or a community using Internet services.
It says bloggers cannot provide, disseminate or create direct links to information that is prohibited in a decree issued in August on the management, provision and use of the Internet and e-information on the Internet.
The decree forbids the circulation of information which undermines Vietnam’s national security and social order, revealing classified information, or instigating war and violence.
Pornographic, superstitious and defamatory content are also banned under the decree.
The circular states that bloggers are barred from using blogs to fake others’ identities or posting information harmful to other’s legitimate rights.
Bloggers also cannot post media, art or literature products prohibited by Vietnam’s Civil Codes or copyright laws.
Blog creators and users are responsible for content uploaded onto their sites and have to protect their password and personal information, the circular says.
Service providers must detect, prevent and get rid of banned information when asked by governmental blog management agencies, it notes.
Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Do Quy Doan, said it was necessary to create a legal framework for blogging as it was complicated and sensitive by nature.
He said the circular aimed to create a legal base for related agencies to tackle violations in the area of blogging.
Luu Vu Hai, head of the ministry’s Administration for Radio Broadcast, Television and e-Information, said the circular was meant to instruct and raise awareness of a healthier online environment.
“The circular is more about ‘instruction’ than ‘management.’” Hai said.
The blogging community, however, feels that the circular will not go far. Blog entries in the wake of the circular had many saying it was nearly impossible to manage a virtual and random world like blogs.
Reported by Truong Son

Cambodia promises crackdown on pirated movies, music

Phnom Penh - Cambodia would begin raids on shops suspected of selling pirated movie DVDs and music CDs, a senior official warned Monday. The South-East Asian nation has become well-known among travellers for its thousands of shops offering dirt-cheap pirated copies of the latest international movies and music, which often hit the stalls before they are in general release overseas.
"The ministry will implement measures imminently to stop the sale of pirated CDs and DVDs to protect the intellectual property of their writers and producers," said Tauch Sarou, undersecretary of state for the Culture Ministry.
"But the ministry alone cannot stop this, so we will cooperate with police and the vendors themselves to stamp the problem out," Sarou said. "It isn't going to stop overnight, but we need the sellers to understand the issue and why we must do this. We will not stop until they do."
The ministry called a meeting of bootleg vendors Friday to warn them of the new crackdown, and police said Monday that they were prepared for the raids.
Cambodia's bootleggers enjoyed impunity for years, but the country was accepted as a member by the World Trade Organization in 2003 and the body has given it until 2013 to comply with regulations.
A vendor from Prey Nokor CD near the capital's Central Market said Monday that she understood intellectual property rights well but that sellers found themselves in a catch-22 situation.
On the one hand, nobody imports original work to Cambodia, and on the other, the 2-dollar-per-disk cost for pirated copies prices the genuine articles out of the market, said the vendor who declined to be named.
"However, I will stop if the law is enforced because I know artists have rights even though it will kill my business," she said. Copyright, respective author or news agency

Over 370 songwriters respond to copyright violations

The Vietnam Center for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC) said 371 living artists and the families of late-songwriters had signed the over 50-page application, compiled by the center over the last two months.

The center said there were many more who wanted to sign.

The artists said the royalties of VND10,000 (US$0.60) per song were very low, but many stations, including Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (VTC), ignored the fees, despite many reminders.

Even cable TV stations, which earn large amounts of money from advertisements and viewers, did not pay copyright fees to artists, they said.

The VCPMC said three quarters of local TV stations were currently paying royalties and the center, which collected fees on behalf of copyright holders, got a 25 percent commission.

A songwriter, Pham Tuyen, said intellectual property rights needed to be respected.

“We are not making a big demand. Every song which has been popularized brings happiness to the artist,” he said.

“But our works’ existence has to be recognized - when broadcasters ask permission to use songs theyshould pay royalties so that songwriters can make a living.”

The VCPMC said in case stations which played songs still “forgot” to pay copyright fees, it would ask for relevant agencies’ intervention.

Source: Tuoi Tre, Lao Dong