As VietNamNet has reported, the revenue of movies shown in theaters is automatically collected by Box Office Vietnam (BOVN) into its system through public data from online ticket sales sites, then, proceeds to publish the revenue rankings on the site.

daopopiano.png
Revenue of the movie "Peach, Pho and Piano" was recorded by BOVN at 3:51 p.m. on February 23. Screenshot.

However, according to a security expert (who asked to remain anonymous), this action by BOVN could be sued by theater chains for copyright infringement.

This expert said that normally, taking content (automatically or manually) from another website must comply with the terms of use of that website. The copyright to use the content always belongs to the website's owner. Therefore, if data is taken from another website and used, without any agreement or notification to the owner, the owner can, depending on the situation, request a quote, revoke it, or even sue for copyright infringement.

In addition, it is necessary to clarify the form of data collection. If the data is published by the website in the form of statistics, the aggregator can use it for synthesis. However, if you rely on bots to check for sold-out theaters and then synthesize it yourself, you need to check with the website's terms of use to see if it allows the use of automated bots to access this data. Generally, websites do not allow this.

According to the expert's observation, to buy tickets online on the websites of cinema complexes, only when logging in with a user account and proceeding to purchase tickets will one know whether the cinema has available tickets or not.

VietNamNet reporters went to the online ticket sales website of Galaxy Cinema, in the copyright usage agreement, this unit clearly stated: “All content displayed on the website and related products of Galaxy Cinema in any form such as characters, images, logos, video clips... are the property of Galaxy Cinema or Galaxy Cinema's content providers, protected by Vietnamese law and international copyright regulations. The compilation and display of this content through Galaxy Cinema is the sole property of Galaxy Cinema”.

In addition, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, CEO of Galaxy Studio, said that BOVN is currently automatically getting information from the ticket sales website of the Galaxy cinema complex and this has not been authorized.

On the CGV website system, the general terms also clearly state the collection of user application data. Accordingly, when users download data to their personal devices, the downloaded content is still under the legal use of CGV Vietnam. There is no provision that this system agrees to transfer ownership (including intellectual property rights) of the content downloaded by users. Users are not allowed to sell, transfer, distribute, redistribute, crack, encrypt, develop, expand, decompile, decode, or perform any other actions with respect to the downloaded content without the consent of CGV Vietnam. Any action that violates this is a violation of ownership and intellectual property rights.

Meanwhile, after collecting revenue data from ticket sales websites of cinema complexes, BOVN has provided sales service packages for customers and businesses.

Regarding the above issues, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Duong, founder of BOVN, said that in the opinion of security experts, this is completely understandable. However, with the system having collected data for nearly 7 years, and at the same time, publicly disclosing information as well as communication methods, many domestic cinemas and film production units are still maintaining contact with BOVN. Therefore, if cinemas in Vietnam feel that the website's activities violate the policy, they can discuss through the established contact channel.

Regarding BOVN collecting data without permission, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Duong said that, based on the confidentiality contract between the film distributor and the cinema chains, no cinema chain can proactively "allow" a third party to receive its revenue data, which is a violation of the contract between the cinema chain and the film maker. Therefore, in his opinion, "asking permission" to collect data here will make it difficult for the cinema chain (because if allowed, it will violate the contract).

Over the years, he has believed that BOVN's activities will do better for the development of Vietnamese cinema. At the same time, he has received many phone calls and exchanges from film distributors, cinema complexes, and film researchers to encourage, motivate, and provide some forms of support to help the system's operations become more stable.

The founder of BOVN said that the company always operates in compliance with the law and hopes to receive attention from management agencies, so that there will be adjustments, directions, and operations from the State. Currently, the system operates as an independent unit, but there are also certain pressures.

Mr. Nguyen Khanh Duong believes that box office revenue reporting, if there is cooperation from state management agencies like in the US, Korea, and China, will help the film market develop more healthily.

What do directors and cinemas say about Box Office Vietnam's revenue statistics? Directors and cinema managers said that Box Office Vietnam's collection of movie revenue statistics is the private business of this unit.