Vietnam Copyright Registration Guide

As in China, although copyright registration in Vietnam is not a legal obligation, it is still a very good recommendation to register it with the Copyright Office of Vietnam (COV).

Reasons for registering copyright in Vietnam:

• The owner of a Vietnam Copyright Registration Certificate does not bear the burden of proving its copyright ownership in a dispute unless otherwise proven.
• Copyright owners can easily license or transfer their copyrights to other parties.
• Registering as the owner of a work minimizes the risk of the work being infringed.

Vietnam copyright protection conditions:

• A national or habitually resident of any country that is a member of the Berne Convention.
• The work is first published in any country that is a party to the Berne Convention, or is published simultaneously in a country outside the Berne Convention and a party to the Berne Convention within 30 days.

Types of copyright protection in Vietnam:

• Literary works, scientific works, textbooks, teaching materials and other works expressed in words or words
• Lecture, speech and conversation type written works
• Journalistic works, musical works, dramatic works
• Film works and works created by similar methods
• Works of fine and applied art
• photography, architecture
• Sketches, plans, maps and drawings relating to topographical or scientific works
• Folklore and folk art works
• Computer software copyright

Information needed:

• Author's name, address, nationality
• Title, type and scanned copy of the work
• Date of creation and completion of the work
• Date and place of first publication of the work (if any)

Documents required:

• Copyright registration written statement
• Power of attorney (need to be notarized)
• Copy of business registration certificate (if the copyright owner is a company, notarization is required)
• Original passport of the copyright author (notarization required)
• Author's creative statement
• Transfer declaration document commissioned by the copyright owner (if any)
• Written statement of consent from co-authors/co-owners (if any)
• copy of work

(*All submitted documents must be translated into Vietnamese; all submitted documents must be original)

Registration time:

• After the copyright registration request is formally submitted, the Vietnam Copyright Office will complete the review and issue a certificate within 25-35 working days from the date of filing.

Protection period:

• Indefinite protection, that is, rights in intangible assets, including: the right to authorize the work and the right to the integrity of the work.
• Limited-term protection, that is, the right to publish works and the property rights of works, including:
• Duration of protection for film, photography, applied arts and anonymous works: 75 years from the date of publication.
• Published works: 100 years from the date of fixation of rights (except for anonymous works).
• Protection period for unpublished works: 25 years from the date of fixation of rights (except for anonymous works).