Since 2001, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and its Member States have celebrated World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 with activities, evens, and campaigns. They seek to increase public understanding of IP right, the protection of these rights, and to promote creativity and innovation. World IP Day marks a significant event to attract the media and public interest to IP-related issues.

The WIPO Director General sends a message to all of its Member States on this annual occasion with a theme that varies from year to year. At the same time, the WIPO also dispatches promotional materials to all IP offices and other interested organizations around the world. On World Intellectual Property Day this year, WIPO’s focus will be on celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property. As such, the WIPO Director General’s message is that, “On World Intellectual Property Day we are celebrating not only the enormous power of human creativity, but also the intellectual property rights that help to fuel and channel it, making it such an important driving force for economic, cultural and social development.” And so, “on World Intellectual Property Day, we pay tribute to the inventors and artists, great and small, who enrich our existence with the fruits of their innovative thoughts and creative vision. And we remember why it is that their intellectual property rights, the rights that they have earned through their individual and collective talents, deserve our admiration, our protection, and our respect.”

The crucial point in this message is that we should respect and protect IP rights, including copyright and related rights, through concrete and practical actions. These actions stem from appropriate awareness of IP right and strict compliance with existing legal regulations. In the dialectical relationship of right, one can give rise to another. Consequently, respect for and protections of IP right of others are to consolidate the respect for and protection of one’s own rights.

Globalization is taking place at a rapid pace, which finds expression in more in-depth trade and investment integration in the world. This requires a transparent environment based on strict compliance with national laws and international conventions on copyright and related rights. Bilateral and multilateral relations are bound by commitments to the exercise of copyright and related right. Effective protection and legal usage of copyright and related rights, which are applicable to all objects inside and outside a country, have become an urgent task for all individuals, enterprises, and organizations in Vietnam.

The boom of the Internet has exposed new challenges in the protection of copyrights and related rights. These rights are now not only bound by national characters, but also by global features as well. As a result World IP Day 2008 celebrations in Vietnam focus on Internet copyright and related rights. Under Internet websites are encouraged to legally use records and clips, to fully exercise all rights related to authors and rights owners inside and outside the country, and to be subjected to severe sanctions for violations. So far, six websites have entered into agreements with the Vietnam Recording Industry Association to legally use musical recordings. The license granting ceremony was solemnly held on April 19, 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City. In cooperation with the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Copyright Office of Vietnam has required websites the breach the copyright law to discontinue their violations. Another activity in celebration of the 2008 World IP Day are training workshops on laws related to copyright and skills for exercising copyright in publication. This workshop, co-organized by the Department of Publication, the Copyright Office of Vietnam, and a Swedish partner, lasted from April 21 to 23, 2008 in Hanoi and from April 24 to 26, 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City.

http://www.cov.gov.vn/English/viewNew.asp?newId=205&rd=20080904bw520