TTLV: Legal barriers regarding copyright and related rights in the development of digital resources at university libraries.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name: Quan Pham Linh Chi 2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: February 6, 2001

4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Decision on student admission No.: 5410/QD-XHNV dated December 21, 2023, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis title: Legal barriers regarding copyright and related rights in the development of digital resources in university libraries.

8. Major: Information Science – Library Science; Code: 8320201

9. Scientific supervisor: Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, Lecturer, Faculty of Information and Library Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi.

10. Summary of the thesis results:

This thesis was conducted in the context of digital transformation becoming an inevitable trend in society, especially in the field of education. With the topic "Legal barriers regarding copyright and related rights in the development of digital resources at university libraries," the research focuses on analyzing the current state of awareness and compliance with intellectual property law in the process of developing digital resources at university libraries. The main results of the thesis are summarized as follows:

Firstly, Chapter 1 of the thesis clarifies the theoretical basis of copyright and related rights; and the development of digital resources in university libraries. It presents the main content on copyright and related rights, clarifies the concept and characteristics of digital resources, analyzes the content, process, and nature of digital resource development activities; and establishes a theoretical research framework based on a synthesis of legal and academic foundations.

Secondly, in Chapter 2, the thesis analyzes the practical development of digital resources at university libraries based on an analysis of 05 contents: (1) Sources of digital resource formation; (2) Methods of collecting and supplementing digital resources; (3) Processing, storing and preserving digital resources; (4) Software for managing digital resource systems; (5) Interoperability, exchange, provision of access rights and support for users to exploit digital resources. The results show that libraries have made certain progress in building digital resources, but many limitations still exist, including obstacles arising from intellectual property law regulations related to the exploitation of digital documents.

Thirdly, Chapter 3 outlines the legal barriers at each stage. In the collection and acquisition stage, the main obstacles arise from the methods of digitizing documents, the author's exclusive rights to copy works, content constraints related to third-party rights, and regulations on protection periods that have not yet yielded significant positive impacts. In the processing, storage, and preservation stage, professional practices risk infringing on copyright and derivative works. In the stage of sharing and providing access to digital resources, regulations regarding the dissemination of works to the public largely involve online sharing and should be limited to internal use, but legal documents lack specific guidance.

Finally, in Chapter 4, the thesis offers several suggestions to mitigate legal barriers to copyright and related rights in the development of digital resources at university libraries. Regarding the policy framework, the thesis proposes the need for guidelines on the enforcement of copyright and related rights; and consideration of adjustments to exceptions for libraries under intellectual property law. For university libraries, emphasis should be placed on training library staff in intellectual property law and developing appropriate internal digital resource development policies to effectively and legally utilize digital resources.

11. Practical applications:

This research has practical implications for the development and management of digital resources in university libraries. The research findings highlight the limitations, obstacles, and legal conflicts that exist between the requirements for copyright and related rights protection and the need to expand access to digital resources in libraries. Based on this, the study proposes appropriate solutions to harmonize the interests of rights holders and information/library institutions, contributing to improved digital transformation implementation. Furthermore, the research results will help libraries accurately assess the legal readiness, awareness, and copyright enforcement capabilities of their staff, thereby guiding the sustainable adjustment of their digital resource development strategies. The conclusions and recommendations of this study can also serve as a useful reference for university libraries and other information and library agencies in Vietnam that are facing similar challenges in digital transformation and copyright management in the digital environment.

12. Future research directions:

Future research topics could include: identifying copyright and related rights violations in digital resource development; assessing the impact of the legal system on open access document sharing; and currently, artificial intelligence is a topic of great interest to researchers and has a significant impact on the creation of non-traditional library products, which is also a noteworthy factor when analyzed from an intellectual property law perspective.

13. Published works related to the thesis: None.

IInformation on Master's Thesis

1. Full name: Quan Pham Linh Chi 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: February 6th, 2001

4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Student recognition decision No. 5410/QD-XHNV dated December 21, 2025 Principal of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis topic: Legal impediments to copyright and related rights in the development of digital information resources in university libraries

8. Major: Library and Information Science; Code: 8320201

9. Scientific supervisor: Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU

10. Summary of the thesis results:

The thesis was carried out in the context where digital transformation has become an inevitable trend in society, particularly in the field of education. With the topic “Legal impediments to copyright and related rights in the development of digital information resources in university libraries”, the study focuses on analyzing the current status of awareness and the level of compliance with intellectual property law during the process of developing digital resources at university libraries. The main findings of the thesis are summarized as follows:

Firstly, in Chapter 1, the thesis explains the theoretical basis of copyright and related rights; and the activities of developing digital resources at university libraries. It presents the main content regarding copyright and related rights. It clarifies the concept and characteristics of digital resources, analyzes the content, process, and nature of digital resource development activities; and simultaneously established a theoretical research framework based on a synthesis of legal and academic foundations.

Secondly, in Chapter 2, the thesis analyzes the practical reality of developing digital resources at university libraries based on an analysis of 05 contents: (1) Sources of digital resource formation; (2) Methods of digital resource collection and acquisition; (3) Processing, storage, and preservation of digital resources; (4) Software for digital resource system management; (5) Interlibrary loan, access provision, and user support for exploiting digital resources. The results show that libraries have achieved certain progress in building digital resources, but many limitations still exist, including problems arising from the provisions of intellectual property law related to the exploitation of digital materials.

Thirdly, in Chapter 3, the thesis points out the legal barriers in each stage. In the collection and acquisition stage barriers, mainly arise from the method of digitizing documents, the author's exclusive rights regarding the reproduction of works, contents constraining the rights of third parties, and the regulations on the duration of protection which have not yielded a major positive impact. During the processing, storage, and preservation stage, professional operations run the risk of violating the right of reproduction and the right to create derivative works. In the stage of interlibrary loan and providing access to digital resources, regulations on communicating works to the public mainly involve online sharing activities that need to be limited to the internal scope, but the legal documents lack specific guidance.

And finally, in Chapter 4, the thesis proposed several solutions aimed at reducing legal barriers regarding copyright and related rights in the development of digital resources at university libraries. On the policy framework side, the thesis proposes the need for a guiding document for the implementation of copyright and related rights; and considering adjustments to the exceptions for libraries in intellectual property law. On the part of university libraries, attention should be paid to training library staff in intellectual property legal knowledge and establishing an appropriate internal digital resource development policy to effectively and legally develop and exploit digital resources.

11. Practical applicability

The research has practical significance for the development and management of digital resources at university libraries. The research results help point out the limitations, obstacles, and legal conflicts currently existing between the requirement to protect copyright and related rights and the need to expand access to digital resources in libraries. Based on this, the study proposes appropriate solutions to harmonize the interests between the rights holders and the information-library agencies, thereby contributing to the enhanced effectiveness of digital transformation implementation. Furthermore, the research findings of the thesis will help libraries accurately assess their legal readiness, the awareness and capacity of their staff to enforce copyright, and accordingly, guide the sustainable adjustment of their digital resource development strategy. The conclusions and recommendations of the study can also be used as helpful reference materials for university libraries and other information-library agencies in Vietnam facing similar challenges during the digital transformation process and copyright management in the digital environment.

12. Further research directions:

Future research topics could include: identifying violations of copyright and related rights law in the development of digital resources; assess the impact of the legal system on the sharing of open access materials;... Currently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also a topic that researchers are highly interested in and has a major impact on the creation of non-traditional library products. This is also a factor worth noting when analyzed from the perspective of intellectual property law.

13. Published works related to this thesis: None.