VN to collect music download fees
VGP – Five online music websites have reached an agreement to charge VND 1,000 (US ¢5) from netizens for downloading music since November 1, 2012, a move seen as part of an effort to diminish online copyright violations in music in Viet Nam.
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Five online music providers to collect music download fees – Illustration photo |
The five sites, namely Nhaccuatui, Nhac.vui.vn, Socbay.com, Nghenhac.info and Go.vn, on August 15 inked the deal with the Recording Industry Association of Viet Nam (RIAV) and MV Joint Stock Corporation (MVCorp).
The collected fees are expected to create an additional financial source to assist the websites as well as artists in the music industry in producing better-quality products.
Under the deal, 45% of the fee, which will be deducted from users’ accounts on the Internet or mobile phones, will go to the five websites, while the remaining is for the music’s creators, including singers, producers and musicians.
For foreign music products, the profit rate is 30% for the websites and 70% for producers.
The MVCorp reported that it is negotiating with Sony Corp. and Universal Music Group Inc. to secure download rights for international artists.
In recent years, the recording industry in Viet Nam has suffered serious losses from free downloading of music from the Internet and mobile phones when one of Southeast Asia’s highest piracy rates for digital content was seen here.
The productivity of CDs dropped over 80% over the last five years, said Mr. Tran Chien Thang RIAV President.
Deputy Director General of MVCorp Phung Tien Cong stated that it was high time that online music services and websites charge music listeners for downloading songs to prevent copyright violations.
According to the State managment agencies, the move signaled a promising sign for the domestic record and music industries.
However, the mindset of a fourth of the national population (over 20 million Internet users) who are familiar to free music downloads cannot change overnight.
In addition, the five mentioned sites are quite small in comparison with over 150 websites currently offering free music in Viet Nam.
Since there remains a lack of official document regulating charges for all songs downloaded from the Internet, it’s obvious that it would be a hard job calling on all music websites to charge their users.
Director General of Copyright Office of Viet Nam Vu Manh Chu said that websites would be fined up to VND 500 million (US$24,000) for using music products without purchasing a copyright fee./.
By Kim Anh
