Military reporter Nguyen Thanh

A court in Hanoi Monday rejected a suit filed by a military reporter claiming sole authorship and copyright payment for the screenplay of a 1986 hit film, saying the plaintiff had failed to provide sufficient evidence.

Thanh claimed he was not the “co-writer” of the screenplay as the movie’s credits claimed, but the sole author.

He also accused Phuong of publishing the screenplay in books by the Thanh Hoa Publishing House and Long An Art and Literature Association in 1986-87, and serializing it for the Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper without obtaining his approval.

The reporter demanded VND74.1 billion (US$4.16 million) in compensation including the royalty and the copyright fees in full.

So far he had only received one third of the royalties in 1997.

Phuong told the court last year that Thanh’s screenplay had been rejected and he had to rewrite it from scratch, so he deserved two thirds of the royalty. He admitted seeking Thanh’s help, but claimed they had agreed orally about sharing the royalty and “coauthor” credit.

VFS told Thanh Nien on the sidelines of last year’s trial that they had hired Phuong to write the screenplay and were not involved in the agreement between the two.

The court Monday said that both Thanh and Phuong lacked evidence that the work was their own, so the screenplay must be “co-authored” and the royalty split in half.

This means that Phuong will have to give Thanh a further VND9 million, or VND6,000. Phuong has said he will not pay up while Thanh plans to file an appeal to get his just dues.

The film editor said he was kind enough to have suggested keeping Thanh’s name on the credits for episodes three and four of the film, although he made no contribution to them.

The judgment was announced after one year due to several delays when the parties concerned did not show up for the hearings.

The court also said the problem had happened so long ago that all the parties involved – VFS, the publishers and Sai Gon Giai Phong – have retained no helpful evidence.

Thanh has not explained why he had waited for so long to file the suit.

Reported by Y Nguyen