Representatives of Authorities of Press, and Broadcasting and Electronic Information and media agencies discuss about media copyright at a seminar in HCM City yesterday. VNS Photo by Phương Mai

HCM CITY — Leaders of media agencies called for a new association to deal with copyright infringement at a meeting held by the Authorities of Press, Broadcast and Electronic Information held in HCM City yesterday.

Lê Xuân Trung, deputy editor-in-chief of Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) Newspaper, said: “Media agencies should join together to establish an association aiming to protect our products and brands.”

Tuổi Trẻ has seen more than 16,000 incidences of copyright infringement over the years. The newspaper has discovered fake websites such as tuoitre24h.net and tuoitreonline.vn.

Đinh Đức Thọ, general managing editor of Pháp Luật TP Hồ Chí Minh (Laws of HCM City) Newspaper, said that violators mostly were anonymous information websites, social media platforms, or even other media agencies.

In one month, the newspapers had to deal with hundreds of violations, but only 70-80 violators were finally identified.

Việt Nam Television (VTV) in one month found more than 189,000 incidences of infringement of news videos on social media, websites and mobile apps.

The station is also facing the illegal use of its VTV brandname to establish fake websites, channels on YouTube, and fanpages on Facebook.

Each media agency has established its own group to deal with copyright infringements, but still needs support from state management agencies.

Lê Quang Tự Do, deputy general director of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information, said: “The development of technology can help to identify copyright infringement. The association should include participation from state management agencies, journalism agencies and technology companies.”

However, he said he was concerned about the shortage of human resources and finances needed to launch the association.

Hoàng Vĩnh Bảo, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, agreed that it was necessary to have a association to protect media copyrights.

However, he said that media agencies should fight to protect themselves by "educating staff about regulations on copyright, launch a system to trace and deal with infringements, and agree not to use other agencies’ products without permission.”

“Media agencies should also work with state management authorities in amending and implementing laws because only these agencies know what they need and which regulation is not appropriate,” Bảo said.

Seminar attendees said they were also worried that websites, fanpages and apps were using names of local media agencies to upload fake news.

Lieutenant Colonel Đinh Thị Thu Thủy, head of the Hà Nội Office of Cyber Security and High-tech Crime, said that many websites, fanpages and apps were created to spread fake news for anti-State propaganda purposes.

Local media agencies should use high-end technology to protect their copyright and detect infringements and inform authorities, Thủy added.

Leaders of media agencies agreed with Thủy’s ideas, but said the fine for copyright infringement VNĐ3-30 million (US$130-1,300) was too low.

Trung of Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) Newspaper said the authorities should increase the fine and regularly publicise lists of violators as a way to restrict the illegal practice of copyright infringement. — VNS