Copyright exchange, negotiation or trading is such a
pressing issue in Vietnam these days that the government is looking into the
many ways to resolve this problem.

More than 70 foreign pay channels are broadcasting in Vietnam presently, many of
which like HBO, Star Movies, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Discovery
Channel have become familiar with Vietnamese viewers.

Royalties for channels like HBO, Cine Max, Disney, Fashion TV and AXN are
extremely high and went up by 1,043 percent in 2008, 162 percent in 2009 and
1,643 per cent in 2010. However in 2011, after repeated negotiations with
relevant agencies the increased rate was set at 150 percent.

Saigon Cable Television Deputy Director Nguyen Van Tu said the heavy charges for
pay channels from Q.net, an exclusive agency representing foreign channels, is
affecting his company’s turnover and they are considering discontinuing these
channels once contracts complete.

Tu also added SCTV would only accept a 25-30 per cent increase compared to
royalties in 2010. Some foreign channels such as Fashion TV used to be free but
now are on a yearly royalty basis. The exorbitant price is recommended by the
agency representing the channels and not by the foreign channels.

Some providers of pay channels have sent official documents to the Department of
Information and Communications and VNPayTV to ask for help and intervention to
resolve this problem.

The VNPayTV was established on April 23 this year to protect legal rights and
benefit pay TV providers to trade and negotiate. The copyrights issue introduced
as part of the regulations includes matters pertaining to channel copyrights,
film copyrights, TV show copyrights, etc.

Information and Communication Director of Department Luu Vu Hai said the state
management agencies suggested seeking many co-operators as representatives of
foreign channels to avoid monopoly and create a competitive environment in this
business.

The Decision 20/2011/QĐ-TTg on Management Regulations of pay TV shows of any
foreign channel having commercial purposes, require they delegate their business
activities through an agency in Vietnam. The foreign channels or TV shows,
however, are not broadcast as they come but are subject to editing and
translation by a TV station.

Under such prevailing regulations, the government can easily manage the
operations of the channels by a diverse group of agencies.

It is therefore necessary that the regulations for VNPayTV relating to high
payments come into force so that matters pertaining to royalties are resolved
finally.

Source: SGGP