HÀ NỘI — The copyright of the country’s most-anticipated TV show at the end of the year, Gặp Nhau Cuối Năm – Táo Quân (Year-end Rendezvous – Kitchen Gods), has been registered by Vietnam Television (VTV) in Việt Nam and in the US.

According to the media representative of the programme, the registration aims to prevent it from being uploaded onto domestic websites or websites with Internet Protocol addresses located abroad. The action is also considered the first effort to protect the copyrights of the programmes produced by VTV worldwide.

Jointly produced by Vietnam Television Film Centre and VTV since 2003, Gặp Nhau Cuối Năm – Táo Quân is aired annually on all channels of VTV on every New Year’s Eve, mentioning all highlighted social issues in the previous year with a humorous angle. The show features some of the biggest names in comedy in Việt Nam such as Quốc Khánh, Vân Dung, Quang Thắng, Tự Long, Công Lý and Xuân Bắc.

Since its first broadcast, Gặp Nhau Cuối Năm – Táo Quân has been recorded and uploaded onto the internet, especially Youtube, by individuals without any agreement from its producers.

In one case, the programme was live streamed on Youtube at the same time that it was being screened on VTV in 2014. Also early that year, the DVDs of Táo Quân 2014 were sold abundantly on the market without legal permission. The audience can also watch or download the programme for free from Youtube.

Realising such copyright violations, CNC, the corporation who has signed contract with VTV on exclusive distribution of Táo Quân on the internet, has forced the copyright violators on Youtube to remove the videos of the programme, and at the same time, Youtube will lock the account of the users who still try to violate the copyright purposefully.

The audience can watch programme with high quality on https://vtv.vn, the official online channel of VTV or via VTVGo mobile application.

Gặp Nhau Cuối Năm – Táo Quân 2018 will be aired on all TV channels of VTV at 8pm on February 15. — VNS