Question:

What is copyright registration? Benefits of such registration?

Answer:

According to Clause 1, Article 9, IP Law, registering copyright is that an author, owner of a work files application to the COV (Copyright office of Vietnam) to confirm the information of the work, the author and the owner.

Copyright registration is not commandary procedure for an author/ owner to enjoy his/her right. It is not the basis for creating copyright; any literary/artistic/scientific work that has already been registered or not still gets them same protection. However, copyright registration is necessary and significant in protection such right when a dispute occurs.

As stipulated by IP law, the author/owner that already has copyright certificate will not get the burden of proof when a dispute arises. Copyright certificate is an obvious evidence confirming the author/owner ‘s right to the registered work.

If an author/owner does not register copyright for his/her work, he/she will have a burden of proof to demonstrate his/her right to such work when there is a dispute. In many cases, it would be very difficult for an author/owner to prove some work belongs to him/her; sometimes it even impossible.