HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam will complete policy and enhance the management and exploitation of music copyright, said Đinh Trung Cẩn, vice director of the Việt Nam Centre for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC) during a workshop held yesterday in Hà Nội.

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) hosted the workshop with the participation of 12 member countries to exchange experiences on performing rights licensing for Asia-Pacific societies.

The delegates discussed performing rights licensing in cinemas, theme parks, live concerts and other places such as hotels, restaurants, cafes and special events.

“CISAC works to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators across all regions of the world and artistic fields; music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts,” said Benjamin Ng, the Regional Director for Asia-Pacific of CISAC.

“We aim to secure fair remuneration for creators for the use of their works anywhere in the world.”

Each year CISAC organises a worshop at a member country to share experiences and enhance the copyright management of the societies.

“I highly appreciate the effort of the VCPMC in actively fulfiling music copyright in the country,” Ng said.

“Not only in Việt Nam, but other countries, we face with many challenges in protecting the copyright and practice licensing, especially when it’s hard to manage the copyright on internet.”

“We are trying to co-operate with local authorities to give solutions and policy to protect copyright effectively in Việt Nam,” said Ng.

“On the other hand, we also raise people’s awareness of the importance of musical copyright protection. It’s the best way to encourage and support authors and composers to create works for the life.”

Creative types: CISAC works to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators across all regions of the world and artistic fields; music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts. — Photo courtesy of the CISAC

Cẩn said the VCPMC established the network of representatives in cities and districts throughout the country who directly manage the license and collect royalties. Now the VCPMC has 3,550 members nationwide.

“Not only paying attention, the VCPMC also have constructive suggestions on the making of copyright law documents and collaborate with government agencies in promoting, disseminating and practicing copyright law,” he said.

“On a global scale, VCPMC always actively seek, build, and expand relations with sister music copyright organisations.”

Currently, VCPMC used CIS-Net (a network of databases provided by the CISAC) and MIS-Asia (copyright alert system).

Satoshi Watanabe, representative of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), suggested that Việt Nam should use a comprehensive plan to collect royalties and protect copyright.

“At any given moment, numerous musical works are being used in a variety of ways,” he said. 

“For music users, the ideal is to be able to get permission from the right owners to use any musical work as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. For copyright owners, on the other hand, the ideal is to choose an organisation with a system that is able to efficiently collect royalties from a full range of music users.”  

“We are committed to develop a comprehensive range of services, using a variety of databases and licensing systems, that will satisfy the needs of both copyright owners and music users.” — VNS