Copyright infringement in the domestic publishing industry
Nguyen Van Phuoc, director of publishing house, said First News – Tri Viet is a pioneer in the fight against copyright infringement in the country, and has helped the country to move away from the sales of illegally copied books.
Most recently the publishing house filed suit with the Hanoi People's Court against the American International School on September 20, 2012, asking for VND729,368,500 (USD34,881) in compensation for infringement of their copyrights.
The same day the case was filed, the director of the school flew to HCM City to initiate negotiations with the publishing company. The school finally agreed to pay the amount in compensation in return for having the lawsuit withdrawn.
The company will use VND500 million (USD23,912) of this sum to grant scholarships to disadvantaged students in Hanoi.
They have also won lawsuits against the Vietnam-Australia Society English Centre and Australia-Europe English School, run by Duy Khang Education and Training Limited Company. These companies were forced to pay a combined VND770 million (USD36,824).
Phuoc said, "We have taken on this fight against copyright infringement, not in order to just receive our rightful profits, but to fortify the enforcement of copyright rules in the publishing industry of this country. All of the proceeds we received from these cases have gone to charitable purposes."
He added that the money that they have won through legal means is insignificant compared to the losses they suffer from illegally printed books. Many of these illegal books are sold at rates much higher than the intended prices, which negatively impacts the company's image, he said.
