If the offence is committed by an organized group, committed more than once, the illegal profit reaped is VND 300.000.000 and more or causes a loss VND 500.000.000 and more, the fine is from VND 300.000.000 to 500.000.000 and more or the imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

How to legally livestream?  

To livestream legally, users should consider thoroughly the following rules before livestreaming:

• Do not livestream the contents if they are not in your ownership. The contents maybe movies which are screening in the theaters, music concerts, circus performance, drama show and other entertainment show that are owned/produced by otherperson/entity;
• When livestreaming, if the livestream results in economic benefit or serves commercial intention such as advertisement, marketing,… the users do not usesong/piece of music/work if they are not in your ownership, the trademark that is protected, even in the hashtag form appearing in livestream.

Back to recently controversial “Co Ba Sai Gon” case related to illegal livestream, as prescribed in intellectual property law and relevant provisions, from the author’s perspective, this livestream shall probably be regarded as an act of infringement upon copyright of the movie because this act is a publishing work without permission of author/co-authors, distributing to public the copies of work without permission of the holder, causing heavy economic loss for the holder/producer of the movie.

The producer of “Co Ba Sai Gon” movie may probably prove the loss due to the livestream, for instance, they can base on the views of that audience’s publication on his social network and account,then multiply with the ticket price and assess the loss. If the loss is VND 100.000.000 and more, this audience may be prosecuted for criminal liability with the minimum penalty of VND 50.000.000 or non-custodial rehabilitation of 03 years and the maximum of VND 1.000.000.000 or imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years.

The mentioned acts of infringement upon copyright do not first appear in Vietnam. Moreover, Vietnameses’ sense in general on self-protection of their intellectual property rights and respect for the others’ rights is not heavily considered. Therefore, there should have some remedies in realtiy to avoid the acts of infringement, besides, enhance people’s sense on self-protection of their intellectual property rights and respect for the others’ rights.

Ms. Duong Thi Van Anh

Vietthink Law Firm