On the afternoon of 19 April 2024, a cramped courtroom at the People’s Court of Hanoi was the setting for the first criminal trial of a case of copyright and related rights infringement in Vietnam, regarding the act of illegal streaming of English Premier League football matches on online platforms. This case is expected to open the door for the criminal prosecution of other cases of copyright and related rights infringement on the internet, an area that has faced numerous difficulties over the past two decades.

First criminal case of illegal streaming

Vietnamese criminal law has long had provisions in place for criminal handling of copyright infringement crimes, specifically in Article 131 of the 1999 Penal Code. However, more than 20 years after this law took effect, and even though Vietnam enacted the 2015 Penal Code with subsequent amendments, these regulations have remained mainly a law on paper only, and many significant and serious cases causing great frustration for rights holders and society have not been criminally prosecuted.

The case in question was initiated by a denunciation of the BestBuyIPTV subscription service by the Football Association Premier League Limited (the “Premier League”) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (“ACE”), a coalition of global entertainment companies and film studios dedicated to combating digital piracy and copyright infringement. BestBuyIPTV had illegally streamed Premier League matches and other protected works without authorization of the rights holders.

In 2023, after an extensive investigation, the Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Division (PA05) and the Police Department for Investigating Corruption, Smuggling, and Economic Crimes (PC03) of the Hanoi police brought a case for criminal copyright infringement, pursuant to Article 225 of the 2015 Penal Code, against the offender, an individual named Le Hai Nam, consolidating the dossiers for the People’s Procuracy to indict this defendant before the court.

The verdict issued on 19 April 2024 found the defendant guilty of copyright infringement and sentenced him to a 30-month suspended sentence, a 60-month probation, a penalty of VND 100 million (about USD 3,927) as an additional sanction, and confiscation of VND 615 million (about USD 24,155) he had made as illicit profit. The defendant admitted to all charges and surrendered the full amount of illicit profits.

Overcoming obstacles

Criminal cases inherently require very high standards of evidence, as well as proof of factors such as “commercial scale” or “illicit profits” as necessary conditions to be able to determine whether the actions constitute a crime. Thus, handling a criminal case is difficult when all the alleged criminal activities are conducted on an online platform. Due to this complication, the authorities find it very difficult to initiate any official action.

However, in this case, the Premier League and ACE were determined to provide information and materials to accurately identify the offender as the administrator and operator of the copyright-infringing platform BestBuyIPTV. They also subsequently cooperated and worked meticulously with the police to identify the nature of the crime and determine the illicit profits that the defendant gained from his crime. Specifically, the defendant charged thousands of clients a subscription at the price of approximately USD 9/month, with the proceeds then transferred in roundabout ways, including to the accounts of his relatives. The police authorities also successfully proved the offender’s intention in committing such acts, which is also a necessary condition for criminal prosecution of this type of crime.

It should be noted that the 2015 Penal Code, as amended in 2017, has solved one of the problems; specifically, it sets out alternative factors constituting a crime, rather than merely relying on the “commercial scale” and other criteria that were difficult to define in the former regulation. For many years it has not been clear what “commercial scale” entails, for example, resulting in the failure of many criminal prosecutions. In the Premier League case, the police and the People’s Procuracy applied the illicit profit aspect, a new criterion under the 2015 Penal Code, to demonstrate the defendant’s criminal acts, overcoming the obstacles in applying criminal law.

Long-lasting effect

A common viewpoint among practitioners is that there can be no second case without the first. In practice, this verdict of the People’s Court of Hanoi will have an impact far beyond the context of this case, and will be a benchmark for IP right holders to aspire to in their stronger application of criminal measures. In the verdict, Judge Le Hai Yen of the Hanoi People’s Court noted that “it is necessary to apply a strict penalty on the defendant to educate and reform offenders and for general deterrence and prevention.”

The Premier League remains committed to working with local authorities and law enforcement, as well as its broadcast partner K+, to take action and educate people on the dangers of streaming content through illegal pirate services.

This verdict is a precedent for litigation authorities such as the police, the People’s Procuracy, and the courts to use as a reference and for them to be more decisive in applying the existing provisions in the Penal Code to handle crimes in this field. Ultimately, international partners and investors can see from this verdict the positive signals from Vietnam’s process of building and complying with IP law.

This article first appeared in Managing Intellectual Property.