Japanese and Vietnamese experts gathered at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on January 12 to share experience in enforcing copyright and related rights.

Sidewalk bookstores in Hanoi.

The event was jointly organised by the Copyright Office of Vietnam under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Culture Agency under the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Japan Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).

The participants introduced laws regarding the management and enforcement of copyright and related rights in Vietnam and Japan, online violations and measures to cope with the situation in Japan.

Director of the Copyright Office of Vietnam, Bui Nguyen Hung, said Vietnam is improving legal regulations on copyright and related rights to ensure the effective enforcement in Vietnam and fulfill its international commitments.

However, he said, the work has faced numerous challenges as violations of copyright and related rights have occurred in multiple fields and at different levels.

Noda Akihiro, from the Copyright Office under the Japan Culture Agency, told the participants that Japan has long established a copyright system. Japan’s Copyright Ordinance was issued in 1887, which was developed into the Copyright Act in 1899.

Since then, numerous related legal documents have been issued and the Act has been revised annually in accordance to changes and demands in the society and international treaties, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

The effective enforcement of copyright and related rights has fostered cultural development and protected the rights of stakeholders in the sector, he said.

Later on the same day, officials of the Copyright Office of Vietnam worked with their counterparts of the Japan Culture Agency to discuss cooperation measures in 2017.

VNA