Copyright
Protected subject matter, moral and economic rights, terms, exceptions and transfers.
Categories of works protected by copyright
The categories of works under Article 14 of the IP Law and Decree 17/2023 — and why picking the right one determines your registration fee.
What copyright does not protect
Ideas, procedures, methods, data and legal instruments all fall outside protection. The idea/expression line is where many disputes collapse.
Moral rights and economic rights
Copyright splits into two bundles with different fates: one you can sell, one tied to the author and lasting indefinitely.
The author and the copyright owner are not always the same person
Employees, freelancers and co-authors — three situations that separate creator from owner, and the contract clauses you need.
Copyright terms — how to calculate them precisely
Two core rules, a little-known 25-year fallback, and the rule that terms end at 24:00 on 31 December — which rounds every calculation up to the end of the year.
When you may use a work without permission
Vietnam has no US-style fair use — it has an enumerated list plus three overarching conditions. Confusing the two causes a great deal of trouble.
Assignment and licensing
Selling outright versus licensing — two fundamentally different contracts, and the clauses both should contain.