How to update music online without violating copyright?

(Dan Tri) - Besides karaoke bar owners, player manufacturing businesses must also fulfill their own copyright obligations when downloading, storing and updating songs from the Internet.

On August 1, the Hanoi City Police Investigation Agency prosecuted Mr. Vu Phi Diep (45 years old, residing in Hoang Mai ward, Hanoi), Director of Viet KTV Electronics Group Co., Ltd., on charges of Twitter violating copyright and related rights.

After the incident, many people questioned whether going to karaoke had to pay royalties or not, and what obligations the restaurant owner and karaoke player manufacturing business had to fulfill according to the law.

Talking to Dan Tri reporter, lawyer Nguyen Van Duy, Director of Hoang Duy and Associates Law Firm, said that the obligation to pay royalties is not attached to the singer but to the subject using music to serve business activities.

What are the differences between the obligations of singing guests, bar owners and karaoke producers?

According to lawyer Duy, it can be divided into three groups with completely different responsibilities.

First of all, guests come to sing karaoke. This is an activity for personal entertainment, not for commercial purposes, so the singer does not have to pay royalties.

Meanwhile, the subject with the obligation here is the karaoke business. They use works and recordings for commercial purposes, so they must fulfill the obligation to pay royalties according to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law.

According to Point b, Clause 1, Article 26 and Point b, Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Intellectual Property (amended and supplemented in 2022), the use of published audio and video recordings in business activities does not require prior permission, but royalties must be paid to the owner according to the agreement from the start of use.

In fact, this payment is often made through the Vietnam Music Copyright Protection Center (VCPMC).

Unlike karaoke bar owners, businesses that produce and provide karaoke players have different legal obligations.

The lawyer cited the example of the case of VietKTV, this unit copied, converted formats and installed works onto devices for business purposes.

However, the right to copy is the exclusive right of the owner, so businesses that want to do so must be allowed and paid according to the agreement, instead of just applying the "no need to ask permission but have to pay" mechanism like a karaoke business.

Is a karaoke machine that updates music online considered copying?

Currently, many businesses update songs for karaoke players via the Internet or save data on servers or cloud computing platforms and then synchronize to thousands of devices.

From a legal perspective, lawyer Duy emphasized that this is not simply a technical operation.

Downloading a song from a digital platform, converting it, and then saving it to a server, hard drive, or cloud system is all copying, because each step creates an additional copy of the work.

After that, each time the data is synchronized to one end of the karaoke system, another copy is created.

In cases where the system allows users to download songs from a pre-connected online database, this activity also involves distribution rights and the right to communicate the work to the public.

Lawyer Duy also noted that the "no need to ask for permission but must pay" mechanism only applies to playing recordings in karaoke business activities, not to copying works to produce equipment.

Does buying music mean you have full business rights?

A common view is that businesses only need to buy music files or download them from digital platforms and then convert them into karaoke data for use, so they do not violate copyright.

According to lawyer Duy, this is an incorrect understanding.

Purchasing a music file only means that the user owns a copy of the file or is granted usage rights according to the platform's terms, or simply means buying the right to listen.

Therefore, this does not mean that the buyer is transferred property rights to the work such as the right to copy, the right to make derivative works, the right to distribute or the right to communicate to the public.

In fact, digital platforms often only license for personal, non-commercial listening purposes and do not allow users to copy or commercially exploit the content.

Lawyer Duy affirmed that converting music files into karaoke versions through separating lyrics or editing may also involve the right to create derivative works and the right to protect the integrity of the work.

In particular, creating derivative works not only requires permission but also must ensure that it does not harm the author's moral rights to the original work. If you continue to distribute or trade this data, additional distribution rights will arise

If you continue to distribute or trade this data, additional distribution rights will arise.

Therefore, to carry out the above activities, businesses must have a written copyright transfer contract with the rights owner, instead of automatically assuming that purchasing the music file means having the right to commercial exploitation.

What should the unit be obliged to do to limit risks?

The lawyer said that the group that needs to be most careful is the businesses that produce and supply karaoke players.

Before installing any song onto the device, businesses should have a license or licensing contract with the owner of the copyright (composer - usually through VCPMC) and related rights (performing singers, producers of sound and video recordings - usually through the Recording Industry Association of Vietnam - RIAV), ensuring full rights for copying, distributing and communicating to the public.

In addition, businesses should build a transparent list of works, have an appropriate royalty payment mechanism and maintain complete licensing records to prove legal origin.

For karaoke businesses, lawyers recommend proactively signing contracts and fulfilling copyright payment obligations through VCPMC or directly with rights owners, and only using equipment and music stores of clear origin.

Another solution is to add a clause in the karaoke player purchase contract, requiring the supplier to commit and guarantee the legality of the content store installed on the device.

With digital platforms, licensing terms need to be transparent, clearly distinguishing the scope of personal use and commercial exploitation.

At the same time, platforms need to strengthen copyright identification technology and coordinate with organizations representing collective copyrights and related rights to handle infringing content.