Correcting the situation of electronic news aggregator sites illegally copying news and articles

Common violations

According to regulations, a general electronic information page is an electronic information page of an agency, organization or enterprise that provides general information based on verbatim and accurate citation of official sources and clearly states the name of the author or name of the agency of the official source, the time the information was posted or broadcast.

The source of information must be taken from newspapers and must have been approved by relevant agencies. Writing news and articles is the function of the press agency. The general electronic information site is only allowed to post information about the enterprise itself; if it posts information or comments on other issues unrelated to the enterprise, it is not allowed to do so.

The general information website with the domain name tintucnghean.vn illegally copied news articles from Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: LN

However, currently, many general electronic information sites in Nghe An established by some businesses and individuals have freely copied the content and images of press agencies without written consent. In addition, the citation is not in accordance with the regulations on clearly stating the name of the author, the name of the press agency, and the time of publication of the information.

For example, Nghe An Newspaper, in the past, many general electronic information sites have copied the content and images on Nghe An electronic newspaper (domain name baonghean.vn) without the written consent of the unit. It is this unauthorized copying that has caused confusion for readers.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quyet (residing in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province) said that he often goes online to update information about Nghe An. However, when he searches for information, many websites open up, making him confused, not knowing which is the electronic newspaper page of the official press agencies.

“I saw many pages named Nghe An, posting news and articles about Nghe An, so I thought they were press agencies. But when I asked again, I found out that they were just general electronic information pages,” said Mr. Quyet.

The general information website named vidan24h.net copied news articles from Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: LN

Mr. Quyet's case is not unique, because nowadays many readers misunderstand general electronic information sites as press agencies, because these general websites always illegally copy news and articles from reputable electronic newspapers.

This leads to confusion not only among the people, but also among some organizations and state agencies when they read a news article on a news aggregator website created by individuals, but then send a response document to the press agencies, and even in these documents, they consider these violating news sites as a press agency!

The act of copying content and images from general electronic information sites has been going on for a long time, with increasing frequency. This has caused a lot of frustration for reporters when they have to spend effort to complete the article, only to have others take it and post it without permission.

Since 2014, the Department of Information and Communications has licensed 35 electronic information sites to operate, including 22 sites of state agencies and organizations, and 23 sites of private companies.

In addition, the situation of copying news and articles from news aggregators is supported by some individuals, who quote, cut, and reuse them on social networking sites with bad intentions, affecting the reputation of organizations and individuals mentioned in the news and articles.

Not stopping there, many negative phenomena arise causing damage to people and businesses. There have been general electronic news sites established by media companies following investigative topics of the press on the violations of individuals, organizations, and businesses for profit.

The general information website canhsat4sao.vn illegally copied news articles from Nghe An Newspaper. Photo: LN

Discussing the situation of general electronic information sites copying content and images from press agencies without permission, Mr. Nguyen Ba Hao - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Information and Communications affirmed that this is a common situation. "Through inspections and checks, the department has discovered and handled many information sites with the above violations. However, this situation still exists."

According to Dr., Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai Law Office and Associates: Article 18, Decree No. 131/2013/ND-CP of the Government stipulates that electronic information sites that copy news and articles from press agencies without permission will be fined from 15,000,000 VND to 35,000,000 VND for copying works without permission from the copyright owner. In addition, remedial measures will be applied, including forcing the removal of copies of infringing works in electronic form, on the Internet and digital environments.

According to Article 214 of the Law on Intellectual Property, organizations and individuals who copy works without permission from the copyright owner are forced to stop the infringement and are subject to one of the following main penalties: Warning; Fine (the fine is determined to be at least equal to the value of the discovered infringing goods and not exceeding 5 times the value of the discovered infringing goods).

Depending on the nature and level of infringement, organizations and individuals who copy works without permission from the copyright owner may also be subject to one or more of the following additional penalties: Confiscation of works, raw materials, materials, and means used primarily to copy works without permission from the copyright owner; temporary suspension of business activities in the field of journalism.

In addition, press agencies have the right to request the Court to apply temporary emergency measures as prescribed in Articles 206 and 207 of the Law on Intellectual Property.

Need timely correction

Affirming that this is a common situation but cannot be completely resolved (?), Mr. Hao said: "Every year, the State management agency only conducts periodic inspections once."

Also according to Mr. Hao, first, the press agency must protect itself, through self-inspection, when discovering that an electronic information site copies news and articles without permission, it must promptly report it to the State management agency. And in this case, it will be fined immediately. Second, through periodic inspections, if it is discovered that a general electronic information site cites sources but does not have written consent from the production unit, the State management agency will fine it immediately, without any hesitation.

Main interface of the general information website tintucnghean.vn. Screenshot

Concerned about this situation, Mr. Tran Anh Tuan - Chief Inspector of the Department of Information and Communications said that when handling, there are several cases. First, the owner of the work (press agency - PV) has a written request, then the State management agency will handle it. Second, through the inspection process, if the violation is discovered, if the agency owning the work requests to handle it and the source unit does not have a written consent, then Decree 131 on Regulations on administrative sanctions for violations of copyright and related rights will be applied to handle it.

“The penalty is very severe and has a deterrent effect. However, in recent times, the number of general electronic information sites penalized for this behavior is small,” said Mr. Tuan.

State management agencies need to strengthen inspection, examination and punishment of illegal copying of electronic information sites. In addition, further strengthen propaganda work to raise awareness among journalists, especially readers, to eliminate illegal copying of article content. Propose to establish a serious newspaper alliance, in which members pledge not to copy each other's news and articles and support each other in preventing copying from outside.

Dr., Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai and Associates Law Office

The problem now is that establishing a general electronic information site is very easy but managing these sites is still difficult. Mr. Nguyen Ba Hao - Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications also said that the Ministry of Information and Communications recently also met on this issue and had opinions on tightening, even temporarily suspending, temporarily stopping the issuance of new licenses for electronic information sites.

Main interface of the general information website vidan24.net. Screenshot

The situation of copying news and articles causes chaos in press publishing activities, violates regulations on information provision on the Internet and social networking activities, and violates the copyright of press agencies. More dangerously, taking advantage of people's confusion with electronic newspapers and electronic information sites, many people can use them for profiteering activities or other bad purposes. State management agencies have inspected and punished, but that is not enough to fundamentally correct this situation.

Therefore, in the coming time, State management agencies and authorities need to be more strict, regular and strict in inspection and handling. In addition, people, organizations and press agencies also need to detect and speak out to hope to overcome this chaotic situation.

On October 8, 2019, Nghe An Newspaper sent Official Dispatch No. 328 CV.BNA to the Ministry of Information and Communications; Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information; Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department; Nghe An Department of Information and Communications, Nghe An Provincial Police regarding the fact that the general electronic information pages with domain names: http://tintucnghean.vn; http://canhsat4sao.vn/; https://xunghe24h.com; https://vidan24h.net/ and Business and Brand Magazine http://doanhnghiepthuonghieu.vn, copied and quoted a number of news and articles from Nghe An electronic newspaper (baonghean.vn) without permission from Nghe An Newspaper, which is a violation of the provisions of the Press Law and the Publishing Law.

Specifically: Article 21 of the Law on Publishing clearly stipulates that "Publishing works, documents and reprinting publications may only be done after obtaining written approval from the author or copyright owner in accordance with the provisions of law". From the news, articles posted and quoted illegally on the above-mentioned general information sites, some social networking sites have cut and reposted, seriously distorting the content of journalistic information. These are acts that affect the reputation of Nghe An Newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Party Committee, government and people of Nghe An province.

Nghe An Newspaper has requested the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, the Propaganda Department of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, the Department of Information and Communications of Nghe An, and the Nghe An Provincial Police to take measures to strictly handle the violations of the above-mentioned electronic information sites and magazines.

Nghe An Newspaper also sent an Official Dispatch requesting information sites and electronic magazines to immediately stop copying, quoting and removing news and articles that have been copied and posted without the consent of Nghe An Newspaper.