Research on increasing royalties and remuneration for literary and artistic works and other performing arts

On the morning of October 24, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a national online conference to summarize the implementation of Decree No. 21/2015/ND-CP dated February 14, 2015 of the Government regulating royalties and remuneration for cinematographic, fine arts, photography, theatrical works and other performing arts.

Comrade Doan Van Viet, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism chaired the conference at the Hanoi bridge.

Attending the Hai Duong bridge were representatives of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, officials of a number of related units and organizations.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet said that Decree No. 21/2015/ND-CP has the scope of regulation and subjects of application for organizations and individuals who create, exploit and use cinematographic works, fine arts, photography, theater and other performing arts using funds from the state budget or the copyright owner is the State.

The implementation of the decree over the past 8 years has created favorable conditions for agencies and units using the state budget in building estimates and clearing and settling annual royalties and remuneration; contributing to promoting and encouraging creative activities and disseminating literary, artistic and scientific values, serving the economic, cultural and social development of the country and the enjoyment needs of the public.

In addition to the positive aspects that have been achieved, the Decree has also revealed limitations that need to be studied and evaluated for timely amendment and supplementation; ensuring consistency and conformity with the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Intellectual Property in 2022, Decree No. 17/2023/ND-CP detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Intellectual Property on copyright and related rights. The amendment also aims to respond to changes and developments in the practice of literary and artistic creation activities in recent years; fully covering genres, forms of works, creative titles, and encouraging socialization in creative activities.

“After fully absorbing all comments, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will assign relevant agencies to research and report to the Government for permission to amend and supplement Decree No. 21/2015/ND-CP to perfect the legal framework as well as the method of organizing the implementation of the royalty and remuneration regime in the coming time,” Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet stated.

Assessing the impact of Decree 21, Mr. Le Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Copyright Office, said that the decree was issued promptly, in line with the general development of society, contributing to concretizing and implementing well the Party and State's policies and guidelines on cultural and artistic activities in general and the royalty and remuneration regime in particular.

The Decree has created a legal basis for paying royalties and remuneration for the creation, exploitation and use of cinematographic, fine art, photographic, theatrical and other performing arts works using the state budget or for the exploitation and use of works whose copyright owner is the State.

However, Mr. Le Minh Tuan also said that after 8 years of implementation, some provisions of the decree are no longer suitable. The regime of royalties, remuneration for authors, and training for artists and artists is still low, not properly evaluated, and not commensurate with the talent and efforts of creative artists. Therefore, it has not really encouraged, motivated, and created high motivation for artists to create and for organizations and individuals to invest in creating quality works and art programs.

At the conference, delegates focused on discussing a number of issues such as assessing the implementation of Decree No. 21/2015/ND-CP; shortcomings and causes; difficulties in paying royalties and remuneration; proposals and recommendations related to perfecting the provisions of the decree...

Concluding the conference, Director of the Copyright Office Tran Hoang said that the conference received many responsible contributions, practical and scientific arguments. Thereby, helping the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to better grasp the practical implementation and the necessary factors for the process of perfecting the legal corridor on the royalty regime.

According to Mr. Tran Hoang, in the coming period, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will continue to research and propose perfecting policies to encourage artists and art creators to create many good quality works to serve the public in order to build and develop Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable development of the country. Encourage creativity and popularize traditional art forms. Through that, promote the active participation of artists in creative work, help preserve and maintain the good values ​​of traditional culture, contribute to building and developing Vietnamese cultural industries.