Nguyen Tam said that he filed a lawsuit in 2020 related to the movie "Where for Love" directed, written and produced by him. This work was copyrighted from November 2020. However, later, he discovered that the movie "Happiness in the Distant" released by Meritorious Artist Vu Luan had many overlaps in content.
Believing that his copyright was infringed, Nguyen Tam sued related units, requesting compensation for damage to honor and reputation with the amount of 20 billion VND. According to the male singer, this figure was calculated based on the initial release plan, when the project was previously aimed at theatrical release and had a sponsoring partner. The dissemination of the work online affected the entire plan.
However, Nguyen Tam emphasized that after many years of pursuing the case, what he cares about is no longer money but a clear ruling from the law. "I just hope the truth is clarified, to protect the brains of professionals," he shared.
To date, the case has not yet had a first-instance verdict. Nguyen Tam said that the trial was originally scheduled to open in March 2026 but was postponed at the request of artist Vu Luan. Currently, he has authorized a lawyer in Vietnam to continue pursuing the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper on April 6, Meritorious Artist Vu Luan said: "This lawsuit has been rejected for a long time, I don't want to say anything more. If there is information, I will share it on my personal page or provide it to the press".
Faced with conflicting information from both sides, the dispute continues to attract public attention.
Currently, the case is still awaiting the final verdict from the competent court.
According to Decision No. 22/2023/QD-TCGĐ dated June 28, 2024 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism conducts a collective appraisal for the trailer, 8 episodes of the movie "Where for Love" by author Nguyen Tam and the trailer, 8 episodes of the movie "Happiness Flying Away" by Vu Luan.
The appraisal conclusion clearly stated: The trailer and 8 episodes of these 2 films are the same, with the same content, images, sound...
For example, in episode 1 of "Where for Love", from 0 minutes 20 seconds to 19 minutes 32 seconds, it is similar to episode 1 of "Happiness Flying away" from 0 minutes 3 seconds to 23 minutes 46 seconds. In subsequent episodes, the duration is the same from nearly 17 minutes to more than 24 minutes, calculated according to the duration of the movie "Where for Love".
