What is a Copyright?

Fundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include:

 Copyright in Vietnam 

-The right to reproduce the work

-To prepare derivative works

-To distribute copies

-To perform the work

-To display the work publicly

These are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise, no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless you give the OK.

Inversely, if you’re looking for material to use or reuse, you should not do any of these things without either asking permission or confirming that the work is in the public domain, which means that the copyright has expired and all of the above rights have been forfeited. Simply put, if the work isn’t in the public domain and you don’t have permission to use a piece, you put yourself in risk of legal action, regardless of your intentions.

Because, beyond fair use and parody (issues for later essays), the holder of a copyrighted piece has near carte blanche to do what they want with their work. It’s no different than owning a car, a house or a pen. One can lend it out to a friend, sell it, modify it or even destroy it. In short, if you own the copyright to something, you have the same rights that you do with anything else and, in some instances, even more. After all, you did create it. It only makes sense that you would own the fruits of your labor. That’s what copyright law is all about.

ANT Lawyers -  A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.

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Registering Copyright Services in Vietnam

Under Law on Intellectual Property of Vietnam, copyright means rights of an organization or individual to Work which such organization or individual created or owns. In addition, the subject matter of copyright shall comprise literary, artistic and scientific works; the subject matter of copyright related rights shall comprise performances, audio and visual fixation, broadcasts and satellite signals carrying coded programs.

Copyright in Vietnam 

However, in fact, it is challenging to prove the owner’s copyright if there is no prior prepared evidence. A registration of copyright is the most important proof if violation or dispute happens. The copyright registration shall deter infringement, when owner can prove that the Work is protected under copyright law.

With highly professional staff and great experience in intellectual property aspect in Vietnam, ANT Lawyers would like to support you in registering and protecting your copyright and related rights in Vietnam as following:

Our services in copyright registration

-Provision of professional opinions and advice in relation to registration of copyright and related copyright;

-Advising, preparation, drafting, filing and prosecution of registration of copyright and related copyright;

-Provision of professional opinions and advice in relation to license and assignment of copyright and related copyright;

-Appeal and cancellation;

-Proceedings before the judicial authorities.

How to register a copyright or related rights in Vietnam?

Condition of copyright registration

A Work shall be registered its owner’s copyright if it does meet the following conditions:

-The ideas of the Work shall be presented particularly in a visible material

-The Work shall be original (Be made directly by the author without copying from any other works or people).

Required information and document

-Original Power of Attorney (POA) from the Applicant;

-Information of the author such as: Full name, Identify Card Number, Current address, permanent address; …

-Information of the Works such as: Name, the date of publication (if any), the place of Publication (if any); …

-Business registration certificate or establishment certificate (if applicant is association or organization);

-Written promise of being ownership of the work of the applicant;

-Some other specialized document with each specified aspect.

Note: The POA must be signed by the applicant or a duly authorized representative on behalf of the Applicant and no further notarization or legalization is required.

 Duration of copyright protection

-The following rights are protected forever:

-Right to give titles to their works.

-Right to attach their real names or pseudonyms to their works; to have their real names or pseudonyms acknowledged when their works are published or used.

-Right to protect the integrity of their works; and to forbid other persons to modify, edit or distort their works in whatever form, causing harm to the honor and reputation of the author.

The following rights are protected within the stipulated duration in law

-Right to make derivative works;

-Right to display their works to the public;

-Right to reproduce their works;

-Right to distribute or import the original or copies of their works;

-Right to communicate their works to the public by wireless or landline means, electronic information networks or other technical means;

-Right to lease the original or copies of cinematographic works and computer programs;

-Right to reproduce their works.

The protection duration of each type of Work with the above rights shall be different. In particularly, cinematographic works, photographic works, stage works, applied art works and anonymous works shall have a term of protection of fifty (50) years as from the date of first publication. Other work shall be protected for the whole life of the author and for fifty (50) years after his or her death.

ANT Lawyers -  A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.

We assist our clients in all steps of the prosecution phase of IP management.

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How do I trademark and copyright my logo and wordmark?

Henry Thoreau once said: "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." So let's clarify some terms and definitions first, to make sure we are on the same page here and that you see the same things I see.

Trademark in Vietnam

When speaking about "logos" and "word marks", it is important to realize that those terms are not interchangeable, from a trademark attorney's perspective. There is a clear legal distinction. By definition, a “word mark” includes words only. If a mark includes some graphical/design elements instead of, or in addition to, words, then a trademark attorney would refer to such a mark as a “design mark” or a “logo”.

So if you have two separate trademarks (one of which is a word mark and another is a logo/design) then those would be two separate trademark applications. That applies even if the logo incorporates the same wording that you use separately as a word mark. Assuming both the logo and the word mark are used for exactly the same goods/services, then, yes, you would claim the same International Class(es) in both applications.

If a design mark / logo crosses a certain originality threshold, then it can also be eligible for copyright protection. The threshold is not overly high, but it does exist. If you merely apply some minor stylization to your word mark (e.g., the words appear in an unusual font) or your mark consists of a simple geometrical shape (e.g. a circle) with some words inside, then there might not be enough originality there to claim copyright protection. On the other hand, if a logo incorporates a drawing of animals, objects, people, etc., then it will be much more likely that the originality threshold has been crossed, and copyright protection will automatically attach to the logo as of the date it was created. There is a maze of rules as to which logos are copyrightable and which are not, but I think you got the overall picture.

As to word marks, generally they cannot be copyrighted, but like with everything in life, there are exceptions. But that is a separate long story.

A copyright owner is not required to obtain a copyright registration for his/her work (since copyright protection is automatic), but it is a very good idea to get a formal copyright registration as that provides significant benefits (i.e., public record of ownership, which can negate certain defenses an infringer might have, access to federal courts, a certain level of protection against importation of counterfeit products, etc.)

Related post: 

What is the difference between a trademark and a wordmark?

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Are eBooks protected by copyright?

Copyright, with regard to e-books, is a legal means of protecting them from being freely redistributed or unfairly used.

In the days of the Berne Convention, when copyright was initially introduced, books were printed, material products.

Copyright in Vietnam

Though today, books take on a whole new life with electronic formats, readers, and platforms, the copyright laws that protect a writer’s work from being stolen, shared, and re-sold still apply to e-books.

Nonetheless, with the rise of digital piracy, e-book copyright law has been notoriously difficult to implement in a way that deters people from unfair use of copyrighted material. This is especially the case for self-publishing authors, who neither have the funds or resources to pursue legal cases.

If you want to protect your e-books, you need security that is specific to their “digital” nature.

Digital rights management solutions (DRM) are the industry-standard tools to use if you want to implement e-book protection.

There are 3 main types of protection solutions that can be used to secure your e-books and deter piracy. They include:

Expiring Download Links

Expiring download links allow you to send your e-books for download by customers, with the link expiring after a certain number of uses, or a specified time period.

Watermarking

Watermark technology protects your e-books by imprinting visible or invisible watermarks containing your customer’s personal information on their pages.

Adobe DRM Encryption

This is the industry-standard solution used by major publishers. It enables you to set different permissions for copying, printing, and accessing your e-books. Adobe DRM encryption is the most secure way to protect your e-books.

I recently wrote a blog post for the EditionGuard blog, EditionLink vs EditionMark vs Adobe DRM: Choosing The Right eBook Fulfillment Option, which explains in more detail how to select the right type of DRM protection for your e-books. Check it out to see which one is right for you.

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I have been selling books and realized one of them is a copyrighted. What should I do?

Almost any written work is copyrighted. Rights exist as soon as the proverbial pen leaves the page; i.e., there’s no “copyright application” process or anything like that. (There is a copyright registration process, in which an author deposits a work with the Library of Congress. But this registration process is optional. Moreover, you don’t have to have a copyright notice, i.e., a legend like “(c) 2018, Charles The Patent Lawyer” somewhere in the book. That’s also optional.

 Copyright in Vietnam

In any case, don’t worry. Copyrights do prevent unauthorized reproduction and distribution. But copyrights do not prevent selling works you otherwise lawfully own.

There’s an idea called “exhaustion,” also called “the first sale doctrine.” Roughly speaking, it stands for the idea that a rights-holder exhausts some of the rights associated with a particular copy of their work when they sell the work. Among the exhausted rights are the right to sell that particular copy.

In other words, if I buy a copy of Harry Potter, I am not authorized to reproduce the entire book word-for-word on my blog. I’m not authorized to make copies and give or sell them to my friends. But I am allowed to lend or sell my particular book to others.

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Google’s Book Scanning and Copyright Laws

As you may know, Google is making an effort to scan every book in the world. The goal is to create a giant online database of every book that can be searched. One small problem is the fact that Google is violating copyright laws.

Copyright

Google argues its book database doesn’t violate copyright laws. The company suggests it only shows short passages and accompanies the text with ads showcasing where the full books can be purchased. Of course, the ads are Google Adwords from which the company makes a tidy profit.

On Tuesday, the search goliath rolled out stand-alone book search services in 14 countries. The same day, the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) became the latest publishers' organization to call Google's opt-out strategy backwards.

Authors, Publishers and publishing associations are not happy. While Google only publishes the full text of books in the public domain, it is still copying entire books for which it has no permission. Google claims it can do this because the books are being scanned from versions owned by public libraries. Fearing an avalanche of lawsuits, Google backed off.

In August, Google stopped scanning copyrighted books in public library collections. At the same time, it gave publishers the right to submit lists of books the publishers didn’t want scanned. As you can image, publishers still aren’t happy.

The Arrogance of Google

Once viewed as the underdog to giants such as Microsoft, Google continues to act like the local school bully. In this case, the company has taken such an arrogant approach that lawsuits are inevitable. Google is going to take a beating in the lawsuits and here is why.

Consider the neighborhood you live in. What if a local crime syndicate informed every household it was going to steal everything in each household. Undoubtedly, there would be calls of outrage. In response, what if the crime syndicate then suggested you could send a list of items in your house that you didn’t want stolen? This is exactly what Google is doing.

Google’s decision to scan every book in the world is idealistic, but laughably simple minded. At a time when the recording industry is suing teenagers for file swapping, one would think Google would get a clue.

Author:Richard A. Chapo

Source: Articlecity.com

How Copyright Attorney in Vietnam Could Help Your Business?

To learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our Copyright lawyers inVietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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Can I copyright something on behalf of another person?

I’m afraid the Copyright Act beat you to it. Copyright arises automatically under the law at the time a copyrightable work is created and “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” (e.g., drawn on paper, saved in digital format, recorded on tape, etc.). What that means is that your cousin’s logo design was protected by copyright law as soon as she created it, and she has owned the copyright since that time.

What you may be thinking of is the act of registering a copyright with the Copyright Office. Registering a copyright doesn't create the copyright itself — it simply records a person’s claim to a particular copyright with the federal government. (It also provides some very valuable benefits in the event someone infringes the copyright, which is the primary reason most people and businesses do it.) Unfortunately though, you aren't permitted to register someone else's copyright unless you’re acting as the copyright owner’s authorized agent. So, at least assuming you want the gift to be a surprise, the Copyright Office won't permit you to register the copyright in the logo since you don't have your cousin’s authorization. But you certainly can help your cousin do it herself or even ask her for authorization to be her agent for the purpose of registering the copyright.

                                                                                                                                                               

Please click here to learn more about ANT Lawyers IP Practice or contact our IP lawyers in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antlawyers.vn or call our office at (+84) 24 32 23 27 71

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Copyright – What Can You Protect?

The legal protection known has “copyright” has come front and center over the past few years with major legal rulings regarding peer-to-peer networks on the Internet. Copyright protection, however, can be a confusing area of the law. This article details what can and cannot be protected by copyright. 

Copyright Protection? - Yes

Copyright protects "original works of authorship" in a tangible, fixed form of expression. The material does need to be directly perceptible as long as it can be expressed with the aid of technology. A good example of this is a movie, which requires a projection device of some sort.

Materials that can be copyrighted include:

1. Literary works;

2. Musical works, including any accompanying words

3. Dramatic works, including any accompanying music

4. Pantomimes and choreographic works

5. Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works

6. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works

7. Sound recordings

8. Architectural works

Each of these categories is traditionally given a very broad reading. For instance, “literary works” include computer programs and plans for building a home are considered "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works." While copyright cuts a broad path, it doesn’t cover everything.

Protected by Copyright? – No

If a work is not tangible, copyright protection will not apply. This can lead to confusion, so here are a few categories not eligible for protection from copyright:

1. Works that are not fixed. For example, the statements made by experts at a round table discussion or a comedian’s stage act.

2. Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans. These materials may be eligible for patent protection.

3. Ideas, procedures and methods.

Copyright protection is a valuable intellectualproperty tool.  If it all possible, copyright the material you produce to prevent others from misusing it.

Author:Richard A. Chapo

Source: articlecity

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