Da Nang City to host fireworks competition; Experimental school traffic safety project launched; Traffic safety photo competition kicks off; Music royalties go up, along with copyright violations

The Da Nang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC) show titled Am Vang Song Han (Echo in Han River) will be held on March 27 and 28 in Da Nang City.

Four foreign teams from Australia, Spain, China and the Philippines will join hosts, Viet Nam.

Other cultural activities will be organised to celebrate the occasion, including a flower boat trip on the Han River, tuong (classical drama) performances and farm trips.

The People’s Committee hopes that the event will highlight Viet Nam tourism and attract foreign tourists.

The first DIFC last year had 30,000 attendees.

Experimental school traffic safety project launched

An experimental project on traffic safety in school zones will be held from now to next Thursday at the Cam Giang School and Ghe crossroads in northern province of Hai Duong.

The programme will teach Cam Giang Secondary School students about traffic laws and safety.

The project was launched by the Japan International Co-operation Agency and the National Traffic Safety Committee.

Traffic safety photo competition kicks off

A photography competition titled Traffic Culture for professional and amateur Vietnamese photographers kicked off today.

The contest theme is “Fora Humane Society without Traffic Accidents.

All entries should be sent to the Viet Nam Association of Photographic Artists’ organising board before March 3.

Excellent photos will be selected to display at the Exhibition House, 29 Hang Bai Street, Ha Noi on March 12.

Music royalties go up, along with copyright violations

The Viet Nam Centre for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC) earned more than VND15 billion (US$882,300) in royalties last year from the use of works by song-writers and composers.

The centre’s southern branch alone earned over VND9 billion ($529,400), a three-fold year-on-year increase.

Pho Duc Phuong, VCPMC director, said about 20 composers and authors received more than VND100 million ($5,880) each in royalties last year.

Phuong said that businesses and individuals who use the music must pay copyright fees into the VCPMC bank account.

The interest from the VND300 million ($17.645) earned from the account will be granted to writers and composers who are over 70 years old, he said.

The centre had 1,300 members last year and expects this to increase to 1,800 this year, with copyright fee revenues going up to VND18 billion ($1.06 million).

Three years after Viet Nam signed the Bern Convention on Intellectual Property Rights, copyright violations continue to be a serious problem.

Viet Nam now has more than 100 websites providing online music. Of them, 30 allow free downloads of songs. Illegal copies of music CDs are sold everywhere.

This is causing the Recording Industry Association of Viet Nam to lose billions of dong each year, the association says.

(Source: VNS)