Government Issues New Decree on Administrative Penalties for Copyright and Related Rights Infringements

The Government has issued Decree No. 341/2025/ND-CP regulating administrative sanctions in the field of copyright and related rights. The Decree provides detailed provisions on infringing acts, forms of penalties, fines, remedial measures, sanctioning authority, and enforcement mechanisms, with the aim of strengthening the protection of copyright and related rights in practice.

The Decree consists of 04 chapters and 65 articles, comprehensively regulating: administrative violations in the field of copyright and related rights; principal and additional sanctions as well as remedial measures; authority to draw up violation records and impose administrative penalties; and the implementation of penalty decisions and remedial measures relating to copyright and related rights.

Forms of Administrative Sanctions

Under the Decree, organizations and individuals committing administrative violations of copyright or related rights are subject primarily to monetary fines.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the violation, one or more additional sanctions may also be imposed, including:

Confiscation of infringing goods and exhibits, as well as means mainly used for the production or trading of infringing goods;
Suspension of the use of the Copyright and Related Rights Assessor Card, or revocation of the Certificate of Copyright and Related Rights Assessment Organization, for a period of from one (01) month to three (03) months from the effective date of the sanctioning decision.

The maximum fine applicable to individuals in the field of copyright and related rights is VND 250 million. The maximum fine applicable to organizations is VND 500 million.

For the same administrative violation, the fine imposed on an organization is twice that imposed on an individual. Business households, households, and residential communities committing administrative violations are subject to fines applicable to individuals.

35 Acts Infringing Copyright and Related Rights Subject to Penalties

The Decree specifies sanctions for thirty-five (35) acts infringing copyright and related rights, including:

Infringement of the right to name a work or the right to be identified by the author’s real name or pseudonym when the work is published or used (fine from VND 1–30 million, depending on the violation);
Infringement of the right to protect the integrity of a work (fine from VND 20–40 million);
Infringement of the right to publish a work (fine from VND 10–20 million);
Infringement of the right to create derivative works (fine from VND 10–30 million);
Infringement of the right to perform a work before the public (fine from VND 20–50 million);
Infringement of the right to rent the original or copies of cinematographic works or computer programs (fine from VND 10–20 million);
Infringement of the right to distribute the original or copies of a work to the public (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to import the original or copies of a work for distribution to the public (fine from VND 200–250 million);
Infringement of the right to broadcast or communicate a work to the public (fine from VND 30–50 million);
Infringement of the right to reproduce a work (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right of performers to have their names introduced (fine from VND 1–30 million);
Infringement of the right to protect the integrity of a performance image (fine from VND 20–40 million);
Infringement of the right to fix a live performance (fine from VND 10–20 million);
Infringement of the right to reproduce a performance (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to broadcast or communicate an unfixed performance to the public (fine from VND 20–40 million);
Infringement of the right to distribute the original or copies of a fixed performance to the public (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to import the original or copies of a fixed performance for distribution to the public (fine from VND 200–250 million);
Infringement of the right to commercially rent the original or copies of a performance fixed in a sound recording or audiovisual recording (fine from VND 10–20 million);
Infringement of the right to broadcast or communicate a fixed performance to the public (fine from VND 30–50 million);
Infringement of the right to reproduce sound recordings or audiovisual recordings (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to distribute the original or copies of sound recordings or audiovisual recordings to the public (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to import the original or copies of sound recordings or audiovisual recordings for distribution to the public (fine from VND 200–250 million);
Infringement of the right to commercially rent the original or copies of sound recordings or audiovisual recordings (fine from VND 10–20 million);
Infringement of the right to broadcast or communicate sound recordings or audiovisual recordings to the public (fine from VND 30–50 million);
Infringement of the right to broadcast or rebroadcast broadcast programs (fine from VND 150–200 million);
Infringement of the right to distribute fixed broadcast programs to the public (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Infringement of the right to import the original or copies of fixed broadcast programs for distribution to the public (fine from VND 200–250 million);
Infringement of the right to fix broadcast programs (fine from VND 20–30 million);
Infringement of the right to reproduce fixed broadcast programs (fine from VND 5–100 million);
Transportation or storage of pirated copies of works (fine from VND 1–100 million);
Violation of regulations on exceptions that do not constitute copyright or related rights infringement (fine from VND 1–20 million);
Violation of regulations on limitations of copyright or related rights (fine from VND 5–50 million);
Infringement of the right to apply effective technological measures to protect copyright and related rights (fine from VND 30–250 million);
Infringement of the right to apply rights management information to protect copyright and related rights (fine from VND 30–100 million);
Violation of legal responsibilities relating to copyright and related rights applicable to intermediary service providers and other organizations and individuals (fine from VND 10–150 million).

Eight Other Administrative Violations Related to Copyright and Related Rights

In addition to the above acts, the Decree also provides specific penalties for eight (08) other administrative violations, including violations related to:

Dossiers requesting approval and approval documents for the use of works, performances, sound recordings, audiovisual recordings, and broadcast programs where the State acts as the representative of the owner or the rights management entity;
Dossiers requesting approval and approval documents for the translation or reproduction of works for teaching or research purposes not intended for commercial use;
Registration of copyright and related rights;
Activities of collective copyright and related rights management organizations;
Collection and distribution of royalties under authorization not conducted by collective copyright and related rights management organizations;
Copyright and related rights assessment activities;
Activities of copyright and related rights consulting and service organizations;
Sealing and temporary seizure of infringing exhibits and means during inspection and examination activities.

Effective Date and Transitional Provisions

Decree No. 341/2025/ND-CP takes effect from 15 February 2026.

For administrative violations in the field of copyright and related rights that occurred before the effective date of this Decree but are discovered or under consideration after the Decree has taken effect, the regulations on administrative sanctions in force at the time the violation was committed shall apply.

For administrative penalty decisions that were issued or fully enforced before the effective date of this Decree, where the sanctioned individual or organization continues to lodge complaints, the settlement of such complaints shall comply with the regulations on administrative sanctions applicable at the time the penalty decision was issued.