To curb copyright infractions in Vietnam, heavy fines will be imposed, up to VND500,000 mil, or $29,500, said an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Police cracked down an illegal disk trading shop.

The Chief of the Copyright Agency, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Dr. Vu Manh Chu, said that copyright violations are rampant in all fields, particularly in music, literature, recording, software and broadcasting.

He said that last year, of 150 websites uploading music, only 20 paid copyright royalties. Meanwhile, copyright breaches occurred with up to 80-90% of audio and visual recording works, 100% of satellite-based broadcasting programmes.

The situation, according to Chu, is poor awareness of Vietnamese people of copyrights and copyright protection. Violators both violate business morals and challenge the law. Copyright protection agencies are weak in professional knowledge and skills. There are only two localities in Vietnam, Hanoi and HCM City, which have agencies specialising in copyright protection. The country has only 300 people who are copyright experts.

To enforce copyright protection, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will intensify inspections of copyright cases and suggest measures to strengthen copyright protection to the government.

The ministry has submitted to the prime minister a draft decree on punishments for copyright infringement. Accordingly, violators could be fined up to VND500,000 million for a single violation.

“We expect that heavy fines will mitigate violations. Because if an organisation is fined for 3-4 violations, they could go bankrupt,” Chu said.

VietNamNet/TT