10 types of exclusive rights ascribing to copyright

and forcible limitations to the copyright holder’s enforcement of those exclusive rights

Email: vinh@bross.vn

10 exclusive rights regarding copyright

Copyright holder is granted up to 6 categories of materially exclusive rights that are commonly called property rights or economic rights[1] (right of reproduction, right of distribution, right of communication to the public, right of rental , right of making a derivative work, and right of public performance) and 4 types of exclusive rights that are non-material or are also referred to as moral rights[2] (right to name works; the right to name or right to name or pseudonym; right to publish a work or permit others to publish; and the right to protect the integrity of, prevent others from modifying, mutilating or penetrating the work) [3].

In summary, in consideration of both moral rights and property rights bestowed by the laws, the copyright owner is granted by the State up to 10 different types of exclusive rights in connection with literary artistic scientific work (ie. song, poem, painting, novel, stage work including performing arts, etc.) that he or she already created or owns. These 10 exclusive rights said above have obviously generated an overwhelmingly proprietary range that prevails the right of access of the public, or in other words, anyone who uses or exploits a copyrighted work without compensation and/or without permission by the right holder may lead to a copyright infringement.

The State unilaterally restricts copyright holder to exercise of exclusive rights

To protect the public’s right of access to information or the constitutional right to education, the laws need to find ways to limit the 10-exclusive rights said above by setting rules to limitations and exceptions to copyright infringement.

Limitations to copyright infringement mean that a person or organization who uses or makes reproduction of a copyright work, instead of having to obtain permission and pay remuneration to the right holder, is exempt from his/her obligation asking for permission but still has to pay remuneration for rights holder. Whereas, exceptions to copyright infringement mean that a third party uses or makes reproduction of a copyright work, whether in part or in full, in some circumstances under particular conditions may not constitute an infringement, even where the copyright right holder has not granted any permission. These limitations and exceptions to copyright infringement is also called as fair use[4].

Limitations and exceptions to copyright infringement is a legal principle widely recognized in the international law, eg. it is stipulated in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs Agreement)[5]

The existence of the limitations and exceptions to copyright infringement also imply that the State unilaterally intervenes in copyright in order to balance or confine the scope of enforcement of exclusive rights exercised by the right holder. Vietnam introduced this rule in Article 26 of the Vietnamese IP Law, stating that except for cinematographic works, the use of published works[6] by individuals, organizations or broadcast organizations (with sponsorship, advertisement or collection of money in any manner) are not considered as copyright infringement. However, they must pay remuneration or royalties to the author or copyright owner calculated from the time of their use of such published works upon agreement or based on Decree 21/2015/ND-CP on royalties (if no agreement is reached, they have the right to bring a lawsuit to court), provided that such use must ensure: (a) must not affect the normal exploitation of the published works; (b) not prejudice the rights of the author or the copyright owner; and (c) must credit the author's name and quote the origin of the published work.

Bross & Partners has intensive experience in assisting clients in defending against allegations of copyright infringement, related rights including a recent pending lawsuit where the client was claimed a damage amount of USD 1.5 million. Should you have specific needs, please contact: vinh@bross.vn; cellphone 84-903 287 057, 84-4-3555 3466; Wechat: wxid_56evtn82p2vf22; Skype: vinh.bross.

Bross & Partners, a renowned and qualified Patent, Design, Trademark and Copyright agent of Vietnam, constantly ranked and recommended by the Managing Intellectual Property (MIP), World Trademark Review (WTR), Legal 500 Asia Pacific, AsiaLaw Profiles, Asia IP and Asian Legal Business, is providing clients all over the world with the reliable, affordable contentious and non-contentious IP services including enforcement, anti-counterfeiting,  litigation regarding trademark, trade name, industrial design, patent, copyright and domain name.