Proposal for new regulations on royalties in the field of journalism and publishing

Illustration

The Ministry of Information and Communications said that Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP has many new points, clearly stipulating the royalties and remuneration for authors, copyright owners and those involved in performing related tasks, meeting the practical requirements of journalism and publishing activities, positively impacting, encouraging creativity, and better serving the needs of the public; creating a legal framework for press agencies and publishers to operate in accordance with financial regulations, and at the same time building and allocating royalty funds to relevant departments with detailed royalty frameworks and clear calculation methods.

However, during the implementation process, Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP has revealed shortcomings and limitations that need to be revised and supplemented.

Specifically, the royalty and remuneration regime stipulated in Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP is based on the value of a unit of royalty coefficient equal to 10% of the basic salary applicable to cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces.

When the State abolishes the basic salary, there will be no basis for calculating royalties and remuneration. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method for calculating royalties and remuneration that is not based on the basic salary, ensuring compliance with the Party's policies.

Some provisions of Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP (on scope, regulated subjects; subjects receiving royalties and remuneration; subjects calculating royalties, payment levels and methods of calculating royalties and remuneration; royalty framework and methods of calculating royalties and remuneration; mechanism for forming a royalty fund...) have revealed limitations and inadequacies, failing to meet the practical requirements of the press and publishing sector, leading to difficulties and obstacles in implementation.

In the process of amending and supplementing Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP, the Ministry of Information and Communications found that there are many contents that need to be amended, such as: Supplementing regulations on paying royalties to copyright owners (royalties include royalties and remuneration), the State is the copyright owner of works ordered, assigned tasks, and bid by state budget spending agencies; the mechanism for forming a royalty fund that is not in accordance with the provisions of law on the state budget needs to be abolished; it is necessary to stipulate a new method of calculating royalties and remuneration for press works to ensure compliance with the Party's policy (abolishing the basic salary level) and the current financial autonomy mechanism (implementing tasks, placing orders, and bidding based on economic and technical norms promulgated by the State) and some other contents.

Therefore, the Ministry of Information and Communications' proposal to develop a Decree to replace Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP is very necessary.

New contents of the draft Decree

- Identifying the subjects of regulation of the draft Decree: This Decree applies to organizations and individuals who create, exploit and use works using state budget funds or organizations and individuals who exploit and use works whose copyright owner is the State.

The above regulation aims to clearly identify the financial source for producing works from the state budget, overcoming the limitations of Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP (the royalty payment mechanism does not distinguish between works created from any financial source); in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property amended and supplemented in 2022, assigning the Government to detail and prescribe the schedule and method of payment of royalties in cases where the State is the copyright owner.

- The draft Decree supplements new regulations on royalties and remuneration to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property, specifically: The division of royalties among co-authors and co-owners of copyright is based on agreement or the level of contribution in the creation of the work; organizations and individuals exploiting and using works whose copyright owner is the State shall pay royalties according to regulations.

- Regarding the regulations on royalties and remuneration for printed, electronic, audio and visual press works: The draft Decree supplements new regulations on the method of calculating royalties and remuneration for printed, electronic, audio and visual press works calculated in the unit price cost of each genre based on the economic and technical norms for printed and electronic press activities, economic and technical norms for radio and television program production, replacing the method of calculating royalties and remuneration according to the regulations on maximum coefficients for each genre and the value of a unit of royalty coefficient equal to 10% of the basic salary applicable to cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces.

At the same time, supplement the regulation that press agencies must self-insure their operating costs, and the payment of royalties and remuneration higher than the average level is decided by the head based on quality and genre, but not exceeding the economic and technical norms prescribed by the State, in accordance with the current financial autonomy mechanism.

- The mechanism for forming the Royalty Fund in press activities as prescribed in Decree No. 18/2014/ND-CP has 2 shortcomings: The mechanism for accounting for the Royalty Fund from service revenue has not been clearly defined, leading to impacts on tax policies and financial efficiency of units; the regulation on deducting the Royalty Fund from the state budget is not consistent with the 2015 Budget Law.

Therefore, the draft Decree has removed all regulations on the Royalties Fund in press activities.

- Regarding the regulations on royalties and remuneration for publications: The Draft Decree adds that compilers are entitled to remuneration; adds categories in the Royalty Payment Framework, including: Publications in the categories of compilation, abridgement, and audiobooks; adds regulations on audiobook royalties for voiceover performers; adds regulations on royalties paid for each time a contract is signed to use the work; raises the ceiling percentage of 11 categories of creative publications and 2 categories of translated publications.

According to VGP