VZCZCXRO7797
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0551/01 1961115
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 151115Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5955
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY 0142
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3859
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 6191
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000551 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EEB/TPP/IPE JURBAN 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/IPE FOR HALLOCK, WATTS, AND KEAT 
STATE ALSO PASS USTR DBISBEE AND RBAE 
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK FOR USPTO JNESS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR SOCI PGOV VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAMESE RECORDING ASSOCIATION SLINGS TELECOM GOLIATH FOR 
IPR COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS 
 
REF: HCMC 199 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000551  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Now that the dust has settled, the Recording 
Industry Association of Vietnam (RIAV) assesses that it scored a 
major victory earlier this year against a formidable local 
telecom player, FPT, in the battle against intellectual property 
infringement.  After months of pursuing FPT (in partnership with 
Nokia) for violation of music copyrights, RIAV finally obtained 
an out-of-court settlement worth around $300,000 U.S.  Although 
RIAV had the legal upper hand in the dispute, the case's outcome 
proved to be less of a testament to the strength of Vietnam's 
legal system than a demonstration of RIAV's concerted use of 
sustained publicity, pressure, and, in particular, shame, as a 
winning strategy to force FPT/Nokia into compliance.  Not least 
of all because RIAV represents the rights of some American 
artists, this is a particularly welcome precedent.  END SUMMARY. 
 
RIAV Steps Up 
------------- 
¶2. (SBU) The Recording Industry Association of Vietnam (RIAV), 
an association comprised of 27 Vietnamese recording industry 
companies representing Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American 
singers and composers, is dedicated to protecting intellectual 
property in the music industry in Vietnam.  Director Huynh Tiet 
met with EconOffs on July 2 to explain RIAV's efforts to protect 
its members' intellectual property.  The association has 
collection agreements with record companies and individual 
artists that produce and/or distribute music and has licensed 
twenty music websites featuring on-demand streaming for members' 
music.  RIAV collects a portion of the revenue and distributes 
royalties to its members based on the websites' monthly tax 
reports.  In addition, it also acts as a watchdog for internet 
sites that violate its members' copyrights and as a vocal 
advocate of intellectual property protection.  For example, Tiet 
said shortly after RIAV was founded in late 2007, despite being 
underfunded and inexperienced, it went after two music websites 
that were poaching its members' songs and worked with Vietnamese 
ministries to shut down the websites. 
 
FPT/Nokia Case Poses the Biggest Challenge to Date 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶3. (SBU) As part of a late-2007 promotional agreement between 
Finnish multinational Nokia and FPT, Vietnam's largest telecom 
company, Nokia offered a promotion package in which its cell 
phone buyers could go to a FPT-run website and download songs 
and ringtones from the roughly ten thousand files on offer. 
RIAV did have a licensing agreement with FPT's website, but not 
with Nokia.  RIAV, representing the record companies that 
produced and distributed most of the songs on the site, asserted 
that FPT had not rightfully sought "consent of the rights owners 
before transferring usage rights to a third party."  While FPT 
had signed additional agreements with five distribution 
companies and with some singers to use their songs, RIAV said 
that FPT's agreements failed to comply with the copyright terms 
in the RIAV/FPT contract. 
 
Negotiation, Public Shame, and one Lawsuit Later... 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶4. (SBU) Tiet explained that throughout 2008 RIAV pursued a 
three-pronged approach:  preparing their legal case, negotiating 
directly with FPT/Nokia, and also engaging the local press about 
the FPT/Nokia copyrights abuses and spreading details of the 
lawsuit throughout the media.  RIAV stated that it hoped the 
case would "set an example" and help raise IPR-related public 
awareness.  Nokia was the first to admit impropriety in an April 
2008 meeting with RIAV, but insisted that the blame lay entirely 
with FPT. 
 
¶5. (SBU) RIAV negotiated with FPT but failed to reach an 
agreement to shut down the site and compensate RIAV members. As 
a result, in October 2008 RIAV filed a lawsuit against FPT for 
violation of music copyrights.  For its part, Tiet said FPT 
resisted settling the case for months until Nokia pressured FPT 
into making the move by threatening to sue FPT in Singapore 
court for misrepresentation of its cell phone ring tone 
promotion agreement.  Once FPT was on board with the settlement, 
it was just a matter of negotiating the amount.  He stated that 
FPT agreed to "somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000 U.S." 
on the condition that the settlement terms not be publicly 
disclosed, adding that FPT practically begged RIAV to keep the 
payment quiet because FPT did not want any more publicity. 
 
GVN Helpful, but not the Driving Force 
-------------------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Tiet noted his surprise at the cooperation of the 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000551  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Vietnamese government, specifically the Ministry of Culture, 
Sports and Tourism (MoCST).  He said the Ministry conducted an 
independent investigation into the matter, and eventually found 
that Nokia and FPT were liable, and noted that the GVN effort 
was driven by MoCST Vice Minister Tran Chien, who is also 
concurrently the president of RIAV.  Because Nokia and FPT 
frequently reminded RIAV of their clout and influence in the 
country, Tiet believes that GVN support was essential and 
indicates an increased awareness and new level of effort by the 
government to protect intellectual property rights in Vietnam. 
Recent revisions to the IPR law that raise the fine for IPR 
infringement from 100 million dong ($5,500 U.S.) to 500 million 
dong ($27,700 U.S.) and GVN commitments to increased inspections 
also support this view, he concluded. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶6. (SBU) RIAV's success suggests that while much work remains to 
be done on Vietnam's legal system, awareness of IPR is on the 
rise in Vietnam.  This creates avenues for rights holders to 
better protect their property -- through negotiation and in the 
media.  If domestic telecom giants like FPT balk at the prospect 
of a public trial, the industry has more leverage to pursue 
other transgressors.  In what could be seen as a continuation of 
the "public shaming" approach, the HCMC office charged with 
enforcing copyrights recently held a press conference at which 
they displayed a range of books (including some with U.S. 
copyrights) that were being illegally reproduced and distributed 
by major publishers in Vietnam.  We are anxious to see whether 
that session shames any of the publishers into stopping their 
illegal activities, but ultimately the answer has to lie in 
better enforcement and a better court system.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
FAIRFAX