Copyright infringement in the field of OTT (Over-The-Top) has become a serious and complex issue in today’s digital age. OTT is an online television and media distribution model where music, movies, and television programs are transmitted over the Internet and do not require traditional broadcasting infrastructure. On September 26, 2023, in Hanoi, the Digital Content Creation Alliance Vietnam (DCCA) in collaboration with Thủ Đô Multimedia organized a seminar titled “Solving the Copyright Protection Issue for the Music, Film, and Digital Television Industry.”
According to statistics from the Department of Radio, Television, and Electronic Information (Ministry of Information and Communications), from August 2022 to August 2023, nearly 1,000 illegal football websites like xoilac.1tiengruoi.link, xoivo4.com, coichua.net, etc., were blocked from access.
These figures were shared by Mr. Phạm Hoàng Hải, Director of the Digital Content Copyright Center at the Department of Radio, Television, and Electronic Information, Ministry of Information and Communications, during the seminar “Solving the Copyright Protection Issue for the Music, Film, and Digital Television Industry.”
Copyright infringement remains widespread on the internet. Organized by the Digital Content Creation Alliance Vietnam, the Vietnam Digital Media Association, and Thủ Đô Multimedia, the seminar held on September 26 in Hanoi focused on unique areas such as music, film, and digital television. These areas have seen a high number of copyright violations in recent times and have been challenging to address.
Mr. Vũ Kiêm Văn, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Vietnam Digital Media Association, stated during the opening speech that the issue of protecting content copyrights in the digital transformation era faces numerous challenges.
According to Nguyễn Ngọc Hân, CEO of Thủ Đô Multimedia, alongside the convenience for consumers in accessing entertainment content, the digital transformation revolution also brings unprecedented challenges in terms of content security and copyright protection. This requires the development of new solutions to safeguard content from various copyright infringement risks.
Pham Hoang Hai, Director of the Digital Content Copyright Center, highlighted that copyright infringement in Vietnam is complex and involves numerous websites (pirate websites) that broadcast football matches and movies. According to SimilarWeb, there are approximately 70 pirate football websites with over 1.5 billion views in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, over 200 pirate movie websites attract around 120 million views per month, with the top 10 receiving more than 66 million views each month.
Recently, some pirate websites have shifted to the theft of Japanese Anime comics. Copyright infringement related to Anime comics has faced strong reactions from Japanese copyright holders regarding violations in Vietnam.
The common characteristics of many copyright-infringing websites are the use of international domains and obscured information services. They operate publicly, frequently change domains when blocked, and often include harmful advertisements, gambling, and other illegal content.
A typical method of copyright infringement is that, after content owners broadcast or publish their content on platforms like OTT, terrestrial digital television, or satellite digital television, infringing parties will engage in violations by live-streaming the content on social media or by cutting and publishing the content.
According to Pham Thanh Thuy, responsible for Copyright Infringement Prevention at K+, a digital television service, handling copyright infringement cases through administrative measures typically takes about 2-3 years and can extend to 4 years, as exemplified by the Phim Moi case.
In the context of the rapid development of OTT platforms, a representative from K+ revealed that Vietnam ranks third in the region for copyright infringement rates, with 15.5 million people regularly accessing pirate websites. Copyright infringement on digital platforms is now the predominant form of violation.
Content owners hope that effective copyright protection can lead to at least 10% of the 15.5 million viewers of pirate content transitioning to legal subscriptions, which would provide additional revenue for investments in higher-value content, sports programs, and better-quality films. This, in turn, would contribute to the development of the digital content creation industry in Vietnam.
Proposed proactive blocking model for copyright-violating websites
According to the assessment of a representative from the Department of Radio, Television, and Electronic Information, the application of technical measures, specifically blocking access to copyright-violating websites, has had some positive effects in changing user habits. CAP’s survey shows that 23% of internet users in Vietnam reported that they would not access or would reduce their access to pirate websites due to these blocking measures.
However, the blocking measures have some drawbacks, such as inconsistency between Internet Service Providers (ISPs) regarding the methods and timeframes for blocking. Some ISPs block access immediately, while others delay blocking for up to three days or longer. Furthermore, these measures do not effectively address newly emerging domains.
The Department of Radio, Television, and Electronic Information suggests several solutions for effective copyright infringement prevention on the internet, including establishing cooperation between copyright holders, government authorities, and ISPs; creating flexible blocking mechanisms that can adapt to new domains; and applying various appropriate technical measures (DNS, IP, CDN) for blocking access. In addition, they propose developing automatic blocking tools to minimize the time and manpower required for blocking.
Analyzing the difficulties in applying legal measures, including administrative, civil, and criminal measures, to combat copyright infringement in the digital environment, Phạm Thanh Thủy emphasizes that many countries are adopting new trends, such as proactive blocking and “Knock & Talk.”
The person in charge of Copyright Infringement Prevention at K+ added that, according to Media Partners Asia, the situation regarding infringement has improved in countries with effective blocking measures, including Vietnam. AVIA’s survey shows that the majority of viewers no longer watch pirate websites and have transitioned to legal services as pirate websites are blocked.
Phạm Thanh Thủy also suggests that Vietnam should adopt a proactive blocking model similar to the one in the UK. In this model, if pirate websites change domains or IP addresses after the first block, ISPs will proactively block these new domains or IP addresses upon receiving notifications from copyright owners or relevant government authorities without the need for further administrative procedures.
Read more at: baoangiang.com.vn
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