Vietnamese producer sues Spotify for copyright infringement

Vietnamese TV program producer Vie Channel has filed a lawsuit against Sweden-based Spotify AB to claim over US$400,000 in compensation for copyright infringement. 

The producer of hit Vietnamese TV shows ‘Rap Viet’ and ‘Who Is Single Vietnam’ claimed that there are many recordings cut from the two shows on the music app.

In particular, 19 songs in ‘Rap Viet’ were illegally published on Spotify, causing claimed damages of VND2.28 billion ($98,000), according to Vie Channel.

The same number of infringed songs also happened with ‘Who Is Single Vietnam,’ resulting in an estimated loss of VND7.25 billion ($311,400).

All 38 songs from the show were converted from Vie Channel’s video recordings into separated audio files and published on the Spotify platform in Vietnam without consent.

Vie Channel confirmed that it does not have an agreement with Spotify AB or any other individual or organization to publish the recordings of ‘Rap Viet’ and ‘Who Is Single Vietnam’ on Spotify services in Vietnam. 

After detecting the alleged copyright violation of Spotify, Vie Channel appealed to Spotify AB as per instructions on the Spotify AB website.

The Vietnamese producer also sent an official notice about the reported copyright infringement to Spotify AB headquarters in Sweden via email and by post.

Spotify AB already responded to Vie Channel’s notice in an email on September 10 but records of these two game shows remain on Spotify.

Vie Channel thus submitted a lawsuit to the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City against Spotify AB over copyright infringement.

The Vietnamese plaintiff asked the Swedish music streaming service provider for indemnification for damages, totaling VND9.53 billion ($409,400), and to remove all audio tracks from ‘Rap Viet’ and ‘Who is Single Vietnam’ from Spotify.

Spotify AB is also requested to issue an official apology to Vie Channel for copyright infringement, according to the lawsuit.