The story of music copyright continues to become a topic of concern when many artists share with Lao Dong Newspaper reporters that songs invested and produced by themselves are being exploited by other units in digital platforms.
This is a story that has lasted for many years, and no solution can be found. Artists only know to... cry for help.
Since 2021, sharing with Lao Dong reporters, People's Artist Thu Hien said that she was surprised to learn that hundreds of her songs had been uploaded to YouTube for 5 years, and she had no idea.
When my daughter tried to put some of my songs online to preserve them, but surprisingly, YouTube reported that we violated copyright, the copyright of these songs currently belongs to a unit called BH Media. At that time, I knew and was too surprised and upset" - People's Artist Thu Hien said.
Singer Thien Vuong - representative of MTV music group also said that throughout 26 years of operation, despite owning hundreds of recorded songs and many hits familiar to audiences, revenue from digital platforms is almost zero.
According to his sharing, for many years, the group's income mainly came from live shows. Meanwhile, many artists today can receive revenue from listens on digital platforms thanks to holding the right to exploit their recordings.
Thien Vuong said that the reason stemmed from the period when the tape and disc market developed strongly in the early 2000s. At that time, to release physical albums, artists had to go through distributors to apply for licenses, print and distribute products.
However, according to the group, many publishing units then arbitrarily resold audio versions to companies exploiting digital platforms, even though the initial contract right only stopped at the release of physical albums.
When MTV group self-posted their songs on digital platforms, the system continuously reported copyright infringement. Even, the group had to ask for a "whitelist" (valid copyright) for their own songs.
When everything was exposed, many old distribution units had dissolved for a long time. Contacting again, I only received superficial answers," the male singer shared.
Not only MTV, singer My Le also said that she had encountered the situation where music products she invested in production were being exploited by another unit in the digital environment.
According to the female singer, many songs in her own album were suddenly copyrighted by the system, causing stations, music channels and media units to be hesitant to use them.
At one point, My Le and the crew had to redo the new music part to avoid conflicts, even though this was originally a product that she herself had invested in before.
Suddenly, all the songs in my own album were copyrighted by someone else. It's also difficult to reuse my own songs," the female singer shared.
According to My Le, the reason stems from the fact that previous record labels arbitrarily sold the rights to exploit to other units without artists being notified.
Many artists believe that the period when the physical music market developed in the past, there were many gaps in awareness and copyright management. When digital platforms exploded, old problems gradually became clear.
Musician Nguyen Minh Cuong has also been upset many times because his songs are "used for free" and illegally copyrighted for no reason. He believes that arbitrarily putting MVs and songs on digital platforms or using them for free without permission is a serious act of intellectual property infringement.
This is a hot issue in recent years, but perhaps there has not been a sufficiently strict handling direction, so many individuals and units continue to intentionally violate," the male musician said.
According to Nguyen Minh Cuong, the tightening of legal regulations related to intellectual property is a positive sign for the music market.
He hopes that in the near future, the rights of artists will be better protected so that professionals can feel secure in creating and developing products in the digital environment.
