Copyright infringement becoming more complicated to handle

Artist Le The Anh accused that his work ‘Li xi nhe’ (on the right) had been copied illegally by Pham Hong Minh (on the left) (Photo given by Le The Anh)

“At the end of 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (A02) under the Public Security Ministry discovered a book printing factory producing 100 tonnes of fake books in only one inspection. Considering that this factory has operated for many years, the quantity of fake books released onto the market must be extremely huge”, said Le Hoang, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Publishing Association and Director of HCMC Book Street.

Tran Tuan Anh from District 10 of HCMC shared that he was interested in the book 'Journey to the East’ but had not had time to buy it from a bookstore. Once he was traveling along Ly Thuong Kiet Street, he saw that it was displayed for sale on the sidewalk. Seeing that the price was reasonable, and necessary information about the book was there on the cover, he bought it home only to discover later from his friend that it was a fake book.

"Copyright is a civil right, yet individuals find it rather challenging to monitor the observance of that right. It is wiser to let professional representative organizations perform that task instead so people can concentrate on making creative works. These organizations can become a bridge to connect authors and stakeholders who want to exploit those artistic works”, said Pham Thi Kim Oanh, Deputy Director of the Copyright Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

First News Co., which owns various copyrights of famous best-sellers like ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’, ‘Journey to the East’, stated that to protect its prestige, the company has to exchange real books to its readers and collect fake ones to destroy. However, since the latter has increased non-stop and been sold much cheaper, the method seems ineffective.

Vice Chairman Le Hoang said that the public somehow abet fake book producers unknowingly, plus they do not want to follow complicated procedures to file a lawsuit against criminals when buying fake books. Therefore, all they do is to keep silent and avoid that seller next time.

HCMC Photography Association informed that lately, hundreds of photos of wild birds by its members have been used illegally for the book Vietnamese Birds, already sold 200 copies at the price of VND1.2 million (US$51) each without any royalties paid to the photographers. Another case is the book ‘Collection of Beautiful Vietnamese Landscapes’, which illegally uses more than 300 photos about culture, geographic features of 54 ethnic groups in the country. That is not to mention various tourism websites or private websites for commercial purposes which take images of photographers without permission.

“In response to the requests by photographers whose works have been used unlawfully, certain publishers have withdrawn their books, but that is not enough. The situation in the calendar market is even worse. Some companies only pay royalty for one-time use but have re-used images multiple times for calendars and advertisements”, stated Hoang Thach Van, member of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists, in charge of the Southern Representative Office in HCMC.

Painting is the field that copyright infringement happens frequently. At the end of 2022, artist Le The Anh continuously accused Pham Hong Minh of copying his two artworks of ‘Li xi nhe’ and ‘Co gai Dao do’ and signing Minh’s name on them. This case received much interest of the public.

In the Facebook group of ‘Against Copyright Breach of Painting Works’, created by artist Bui Trong Du, many members have commented that their works have been copied and signed under a new name before sold publicly or used as decorations for other products.

Some lawsuits of copyright infringement have cost accusers both time and money. The case of intellectual property right dispute between poet Truong Minh Nhat nd Doan Dong Duc (aka musician Quach Beem) is one instance. On April 25, 2022, HCMC People’s Court issued its first instance judgement that Truong Minh Nhat is the author of the poem ‘Ganh Me’, and that Doan Dong Duc has to pay VND122.4 million ($5,200) to Nhat. However, Duc appealed this judgement, asserting that he himself is the author of both the lyric and music of the song ‘Ganh Me’. The lawsuit has lasted 4 years without a final settlement.

Copyright breach somehow affects the book market. Formerly, giant book selling systems such as Fahasa, Phuong Nam, Nhan Van saved 70 percent of their space for book display. Now the proportion is just 30 percent, and the rest for stationery in order to balance between revenues and expenditures. Other smaller book sellers like Dong A, Ca Chep have to close certain branches.

“The number of new book titles purchased for printing rights has halved because publishers dare not invest in new manuscripts for fear of illegal copying and profit loss. Various bookstores have had to sell books at a loss. Van Lang Bookstore once must sell 5 tonnes of books to cut loss”, said Vice Chairman Le Hoang.

“It is critical to perfect the sanctions to keep up with criminal acts to improve the situation. A case of motorcycle loss can be handled criminally, while losing a painting is just an administrative crime that takes so long to address”, emphasized art researcher Ly Doi.