South Korea Inks Copyright Protection Deal With Vietnam

By Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch

Manila, Philippines – The Republic of Korea, or South Korea, has signed an agreement with Vietnam for stronger collaboration in the area of copyright protection. This reflects South Korea’s continuing and more aggressive campaign to protect its copyrighted works here in southeast Asia.

A copy of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the fields of copyright and related rights was posted on the official website of Vietnam’s Copyright Office on 7 February.

The press release is here. The MoU is available here [pdf].

“The purpose of this MoU is to establish a collaborative relation between the parties in the fields of copyright and related rights, to encourage mutual cooperation in order to protect the rights of authors and the neighbouring rights, and to promote fair use of works and to endeavor to improve and develop the culture and creative industries between the two countries,” reads the agreement.

Korean entertainment such as K-Pop, Korean soap operas or “Koreanovelas,” and Korean online games are popular among southeast Asian consumers. In a recent interview with Kyong-Soo Choe, the director general of the state agency Korea Copyright Commission (KCC), he said KCC might open an office in Vietnam, to add to its Asian offices in Beijing and Shanghai in China, Bangkok in Thailand and in Manila.