Court dismisses Vietart's lawsuit
On the afternoon of August 2, the Hanoi People's Court dismissed the entire lawsuit filed by Vietart Media Joint Stock Company (Vietart) against the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports (DOC) in the process of granting a license to organize the performance of the reformed opera "Tieng Trong Me Linh".
The defendant, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, was absent throughout the trial and sentencing process.
Plaintiff representative - Vietart Company at the court session on the afternoon of August 2.
The Trial Panel assessed that, from the time the company submitted the application, the Department of Culture and Sports received and processed it in accordance with legal regulations and on time.
Furthermore, throughout the licensing process, Vietart did not have any complaints, claiming that "the procedures and processes of the department were legitimate and in accordance with the law".
Without a license, Vietart also advertised tickets for sale on social networks. According to the court, from the beginning, this company did not proactively comply with regulations on copyright and related rights.
In fact, the company has been reported to the Department of Culture and Sports many times for not complying with copyright regulations. Therefore, when applying for a license for a cai luong play, the department requested that the company provide additional information, which was necessary.
Regarding the lawsuit related to script editing, the panel of judges said that "Tieng Trong Me Linh" is a classic cai luong play in Vietnam, first performed in 1977, about the Hai Ba Trung uprising in history.
The play evokes patriotism, but Vietart gathers many actors, overseas artists, and freelance artists to organize the performance.
Therefore, the request for the script to be revised by the department is correct and "very closely" considered so that the business organizing the performance can ensure political security and social safety. Because the lawsuit was rejected, Vietart must pay 300,000 VND in first instance court fees and more than 30 million VND in civil court fees.
After the verdict was announced on the afternoon of August 2, Vietart's representative said "we only sue when we have no other choice. Vietart does not agree with the first instance court's verdict and will appeal."
Overview of the litigation
Previously, on August 1, at court, presenting the reason for the lawsuit, Vietart representative said that this unit had submitted a request for a license to organize the performance of the reformed opera "Tieng Trong Me Linh" for the first time from August 5, 2022.
However, it was not until October 3, 2022 (9 working days before the performance) that the unit received approval notice.
The jury of the case.
Vietart said that during the process of handling the application for organizing art performances, the Department of Culture and Sports prolonged the time for handling administrative procedures and requested additional documents and papers beyond the regulations.
This causes inconvenience and difficulty for businesses, prolonging the time to process documents without any legitimate reason.
Also because the approved time was 9 days before the show, Vietart said there was not enough time to advertise and sell tickets, causing the show to lose money. For the two nights of performance, this unit issued 1,100 tickets with an average price of 1 million VND/ticket, but only sold 200, earning 200 million VND.
In court, the business representative also said that the department's request to rehearse the program three days before the performance was unreasonable because it increased the cost of accommodation and airfare. Furthermore, rehearsing a reformed opera on the backdrop and stage of the Phu Quang - Memory Land lyrical music night was "extremely unreasonable".
Therefore, Vietart requested the Department of Culture and Sports to publicize it on mass media and compensate for 672 million VND in program production costs and 1,000 VND in honor compensation.
Contrary to the lawsuit, in the explanatory document sent to the court, the Department of Culture and Sports stated that in addition to this play, in 2022 Vietart was also licensed for 4 other art programs on time, so it cannot be said to "cause trouble and difficulties for businesses".
Regarding the request for additional documents, the department explained that the opera "Tieng Trong Me Linh" had not yet obtained permission from the copyright owner, so it requested the company to supplement the approval document.
Regarding the issue of moving the rehearsal time three days earlier than the performance date, the department said that doing so would give them time to review and evaluate the performance content, especially the actors' dialogue and costumes. From there, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports affirmed that "no damage was caused". The department did not accept "all of VietArt's requests for compensation".
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