2022 marks an important step forward for Vietnam’s copyright sector as Vietnam accedes to the Treaty on Copyright (WCT) and the Treaty on Performances and Phonograms (WPPT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has opened up many opportunities, while also posing many challenges for each country, organization and individual, which has had an increasingly strong impact on all areas of the country’s economic and social life.

The creation, dissemination, distribution, exploitation and storage of works, performances, sound recordings, video recordings, broadcasts in the form of digitization gradually became popular.

However, the digital environment also poses many challenges in protecting the rights of subjects and activities of management agencies, enforcing copyright and related rights, especially in the context of copyright infringement in cyberspace with the participation of many actors from different countries, making it difficult to identify and handle violations within national jurisdiction. Therefore, there must be regulations to protect and prevent copyright infringement in the digital environment, not only within a country but also internationally.

In order to complete the legal corridor to solve these issues, along with amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has advised and submitted to competent authorities proposals to join 02 Treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on copyright, Related rights in cyberspace: the Treaty on Copyright (WCT) and the Treaty on Performances and Phonograms (WPPT).

The establishment of the Treaties on the Digital Environment has contributed to solving the challenges posed by current digital technology, especially the internet for the protection of works, performances, sound recordings, video recordings, broadcasts created and stored, dissemination and use on the Internet. After the review process, on February 17, 2022, Vietnam officially became a member of the WCT Treaty and from July 1, 2022 became a member of the WPPT Treaty. These are also specific actions to contribute to the implementation of Vietnam’s policy of proactively and actively participating in digital transformation as well as international economic integration.

With such a developed legal corridor, in the common playground, we are no exception. To ensure domestic and international protection, these treaties have enabled people to bring their works to the world as well as to protect works in other countries.

In the digital age, the WCT Treaty is “Recognizing the need to introduce new international regulations and clearly define the content of existing regulations in order to provide satisfactory solutions to problems arising from new economic developments, society, culture and technology”. At the same time, recognizing the far-reaching influence of the development and achievements of information and communication technologies on the creation and use of literary and artistic works…

The WPPT “recognizes the need to introduce new international rules for the creation of satisfactory solutions to problems posed by economic, social, cultural and technical development. Acknowledging the far-reaching influence of the development and achievements of information and communication technologies on the production and use of performances and recordings…”.

Vietnam’s accession to 2 international treaties will bring many opportunities and challenges such as, encouraging creativity in the digital environment, supporting the development of cultural industries, attracting investment and protecting creativity and culture. However, in addition to the opportunities gained from joining these 2 Treaties, Vietnam must also prepare and overcome limitations and challenges because this is an international “playground”, such as our capacity to implement in the digital environment has not fully met or the sense of compliance with copyright laws, relevant rights on the Internet are not high.

Vietnam’s accession to the 2 treaties will contribute to enhancing the image of our country as an active and responsible member in the protection of copyright and related rights, especially in the current digital transformation process. At the same time, it shows that Vietnam seriously implements commitments in new-generation free trade agreements such as CPTPP, EVFTA, VKFTA, VNEAEUFTA…

The accession to and implementation of 2 WCT and WPPT Treaties does not affect the legal system on copyright and related rights of Vietnam because the basic provisions of the 2 Treaties have been stipulated in the Law on Intellectual Property. The passage of the Law amending and supplementing the Law on Intellectual Property has clarified detailed regulations on contents of copyright and related rights in the digital environment, ensuring the more convenient enforcement of copyright and related rights.

When joining 2 Treaties, WCT and WPPT also contribute to protecting the rights and interests of authors, copyright owners, related rights owners internationally in many industries and fields such as cinema, performing arts, fine arts, photography, etc newspapers, radio, television, publishing, education… enriching the ability to serve the spiritual life of the public. At the same time, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation on culture, introduce Vietnamese culture abroad and the quintessence of human culture to Vietnam.

The accession to 2 WCT and WPPT treaties also contributes to attracting investment and supporting the development of cultural industries. Contributing to creating a legal corridor for healthy e-commerce.

For national defense and security, Vietnam has acceded to 2 WCT and WPPT treaties, contributing to security and order stability through effective protection of copyright and related rights in Vietnam. In case of exercising copyright or related rights to the detriment of subjects and national security, the State has the right to prohibit or restrict the right holders from exercising their rights as prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 7 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

In addition to the above impacts, Vietnam’s accession to 2 WCT and WPPT treaties also has 1 number of other impacts such as, management and enforcement agencies will have to handle many cases related to copyright protection and related rights in the digital environment. Therefore, it is necessary to continue promoting the implementation of Decision No. 88/QD-TTg dated 20/01/2017 of the Prime Minister on approving the project on strengthening the capacity to manage and effectively enforce the law on copyright protection and related rights until 2020, with orientation to 2025.