iGuide Stories

Copyright limitations and conditions for applying copyright limitations

This article will analyze the limitations of copyright and the conditions for applying the provisions on copyright limitations. These provisions help balance the protection of the author's interests and the public's right to access information, while ensuring fairness in the use of works.

1. What are copyright restrictions?

According to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886 (hereinafter referred to as “Berne Convention”) in Clause 2, Article 9 stipulates: “The laws of the Member States of the United Nations may permit the reproduction of such works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author.”. Law on Intellectual Property of Vietnam 2005, amended and supplemented in 2009 (hereinafter referred to as “LSHTT”) has inherited the spirit of the Berne Convention when regulating cases of copyright limitation in Articles 25 and 26.

The IP Law does not define what is “copyright limitation”. Can be understood in the most general way “copyright limitation” are restrictions on the rights of others to exploit and use the work of the author and copyright owner.

2. Conditions for applying the provisions on copyright limitations

According to the provisions of the Copyright Law, the provisions on copyright limitations are not imposed on all works but only when the work and the individuals and organizations using that work meet all of the following conditions:

One is, Exceptions only apply to published works. According to Clause 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 22/2018/ND-CP issued by the Government on February 23, 2018 detailing a number of articles and measures for implementing the Copyright Law, a published work is a work released to the public in a reasonable number of copies to meet public demand depending on the nature of the work. Publishing a work does not include performing a theatrical, cinematic, or musical work; reading a literary work in public; broadcasting a literary or artistic work; displaying a visual work; or constructing a structure from an architectural work.

Second, Use of the work does not affect the normal exploitation of the work and does not prejudice the copyright.

Third, must provide information about the author and origin of the work.