# Copyright and IP questions and answers Source: https://luatbanquyen.com/en/faq Short, cited answers to the most common questions on copyright, trademarks and patents in Vietnam. ## Should a company logo be registered as copyright or as a trademark? They are different things solving different problems. Registering copyright in a logo (as a work of applied art) confirms you own the design — useful against the designer, or against someone copying the image outright. A trademark registration gives exclusivity over that sign for the goods and services in the classes claimed — that is what stops a competitor using a similar logo on similar products. For a business the trademark is nearly always the more important one; many do both. ## I have registered my company name — do I still need a trademark? Yes. Business registration and trademark registration are entirely separate systems run by different authorities. A business registration certificate only confirms your legal name does not clash with another entity's in the same registry; it gives you no right to stop others using a similar sign in trade. In practice a validly registered company can still be sued for trademark infringement and be forced to rebrand. ## Does registering in Vietnam protect me abroad? It depends on the right. For copyright, yes: thanks to the Berne Convention your work is automatically protected in nearly 180 member states without registering anywhere. For industrial property, no: patents, trademarks and designs are territorial, and a Vietnamese title takes effect only in Vietnam. Going abroad means national filings or an international system — PCT for patents, Madrid for trademarks, Hague for designs. ## How long does registration take? It varies enormously. Copyright is the fastest — Article 52 of the IP Law sets 15 working days from a valid dossier. Trademarks realistically take about eighteen months to two years, even though the statutory deadlines add up to less, because queueing between stages is not counted. Patents take longest, often several years. From 1 April 2026 the substantive examination deadlines were shortened considerably and an accelerated procedure became available. ## Who owns a work an employee creates on the job? Two roles must be separated. The person who actually creates it is always the author and keeps the moral rights — no contract changes that. The economic rights belong to the organisation that assigned the task or commissioned the work, unless otherwise agreed. The practical problem is that many businesses have no clear assignment documentation, so when an employee leaves, disputes over source code or designs become very hard to resolve. Spell it out in the employment contract and in each work assignment. ## I hired a freelancer to design a logo — do I own it? Only if the contract says so. If the contract is silent on IP you may hold only a right to use it for the agreed purpose rather than ownership, and the designer may resell a similar design to another client. This is a very common risk and a very cheap one to prevent: a single clause assigning the economic rights, plus undertakings to hand over source files and to warrant non-infringement of third-party rights. ## Is AI-generated content protected by copyright? Under the framework in force from 1 April 2026, an AI system is not a subject of intellectual property rights. Output generated fully automatically without human involvement is not protected as a human work or invention. Conversely, where a person uses AI as a tool and makes a substantial creative contribution — conception, direction, selection, editing of the output — they may be recognised as the author or inventor. The boundary of "substantial creative contribution" is exactly where disputes will arise over the next few years, so keep a record of your creative process. *Sources: [Law 131/2025/QH15 — provisions relating to artificial intelligence](https://vanban.chinhphu.vn/?pageid=27160&docid=216511&classid=1&orggroupid=1)* ## Is posting a cover of someone else's song an infringement? In principle yes, unless a limitation or exception applies or you are licensed. Performing a work and communicating it to the public are both economic rights of the author. In practice most large platforms have agreements with collective management organisations such as VCPMC, so many covers survive on the back of those deals rather than being independently lawful. Once you monetise the cover or perform it commercially the exposure rises sharply — get permission or a licence. ## Can I freely use images I found on Google? No. Google Images is a search engine, not a free stock library. Most images online are in copyright, and being easy to download creates no right to use them. Crediting the author is not a substitute for permission — attribution is a separate obligation, not a licence. To stay safe, use images with a clear licence (a suitable Creative Commons licence, or paid stock), or shoot your own, and keep evidence of the licence. ## Must I register for my work to be protected? No. Copyright arises when the work is created and expressed in a material form, regardless of registration. But in a dispute the holder of a registration certificate does not have to prove ownership — the burden shifts to the other side. That is the entire practical value of registering: you are not buying more rights, you are buying an evidentiary advantage. *Sources: [Copyright Office of Vietnam](https://cov.gov.vn/)* ## Does mailing the work to myself have any legal value? Very little. The folk method ("poor man's copyright") only shows that some envelope was posted on some date — not what was inside, nor that you authored it. Postmarks can be faked and envelopes resealed. If you need proof of timing, register with the Copyright Office, or at minimum rely on a system with a tamper-evident log (for example an authenticated repository's commit history). ## Is my idea protected by copyright? No. Copyright protects expression, not ideas, procedures, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles or data. Telling someone a great film idea gives you no copyright in the idea; but if you have written the screenplay, the screenplay is protected. To protect an idea during negotiations, use a non-disclosure agreement or the trade secret regime. *Sources: [Article 15 of the IP Law — subject matter outside protection](https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/So-huu-tri-tue/Van-ban-hop-nhat-67-VBHN-VPQH-2026-Luat-So-huu-tri-tue-700846.aspx)* ## My work was copied — what should I do first? Preserve evidence before anything else. Take full screenshots showing the URL and timestamp, save copies of the infringing material, and for a significant matter have a bailiff record it formally. Online content can vanish within hours of your first warning letter, taking your evidence with it. Once secured, your options are: a cease-and-desist letter, a takedown request to the platform under Decree 17/2023, an administrative penalty request, or a civil suit for damages. ## YouTube issued a copyright claim on my video — is that a legal ruling? No. Content ID and YouTube's claims system are one private company's internal policy — not a decision of any Vietnamese authority, and not grounded in Vietnam's IP Law. A video that is perfectly lawful under Vietnamese law can still be taken down on YouTube, and vice versa. If you need a legally binding determination you must use the statutory route: an enforcement request, an IP expert examination, or court. ## Is plagiarism the same as copyright infringement? Not necessarily. Plagiarism is an ethical and academic-integrity problem: taking someone's work without credit. Infringement is a legal one: using a protected work without permission. They overlap but are not the same. Copying a poem whose term has expired and signing your own name is plagiarism but not economic infringement; citing impeccably while reproducing too much of the heart of an in-copyright book is not plagiarism but may well infringe. --- Reference material only; it does not replace legal advice on a specific matter.