[Podcast] Copyright protection of natural resource and environmental information and data – Part 1

4 June, 2024

Keywords: data, circular economy, copyright, information, resources and environment

After the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) with unified goals and commitments to reduce clean emissions to “zero” by 2050, in recent years, countries are increasingly paying more attention to the economic and environmental situation, including the aspect of sharing and exploiting resource and environmental data effectively. Therefore, the study on “Copyright protection of information and data on natural resources and the environment” was born to explore current regulations and policies on information and data on natural resources and the environment market in Vietnam, from this foundation, the author groups would like to propose a number of recommendations to build and to improve laws on data in general and information, resource and environmental data in particular, especially in the digital environment.

The importance of information, resource and environmental data

Information and data on natural resources and the environment play an important role in preserving and developing national resources and environment. Concurrently, building and completing the national database system on natural resources and environment at both central (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and local (Department of Natural Resources and Environment) levels is a key goal, resulting in effectively using, exploiting, and sharing resource and environmental data to promote circular economic development and to deploy a roadmap to upgrade national digital infrastructure and develop an E-government.

In accordance with the current Vietnamese law, some information and data on natural resources and the environment are required to be provided online through national electronic information portals listed as: National Data Portal, National Public Service Portal, National Land Information Portal and so on. To make it easier for individuals and organizations to access information and data on natural resources and the environment, some Provinces and Cities have started building information portals, resource and environmental data. For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, as the first agency in the country completed and deployed the local natural resources and environment information and data portal, in addition to the information and reporting data on the information page, Department of Natural Resources and Environment (http://www.donre.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/) provides the the related information and data on natural resources and environment that are shared on the Natural Resources and Environmental Data Portal ( https://geoportal-stnmt.tphcm.gov.vn/). This includes nearly 446 data sets on geographical space of Districts and Wards throughout Ho Chi MInh City, typically the information on subdivisions and areas land, planning, current status and purpose of land use, land boundaries and so on.

On the other hand, individuals and organizations that use their own funds to create information and data regarding the natural resources and the environment would like to be protected against illegal infringements. To protect the rights and to encourage the continuous creativity of individuals and organizations in providing useful information and data on natural resources and the environment as well as protecting the original values of governmental information and data, currently, copyright protection for information and data on natural resources and the environment is regulated in the Intellectual Property Law 2005 and Decree No. 73/2017/ND-CP.

If the Information and Data Portal on natural resources and the environment is considered a public and specialized sharing channel for groups of information and data on natural resources and the environment, copyright protection for the above objects implies the creatioon of other certain barriers in terms of access, exploitation and sharing by other individuals and organizations in the community.

What is resource and environmental data?

In Vietnam, information and data on natural resources and environment in aspects of collection, management, exploitation and use are regulated in Decree No. 73/2017/ND-CP. Pursuant to this Decree, information and data on natural resources and the environment are information and data collected and stored in accordance with regulations, including: information and data on land; information and data on water resources; information and data on geology and minerals; hydrometeorological information and data; environmental information and data; information, surveying and mapping data; information and data on marine and island environmental resources; information and data on climate change; information and data on remote sensing.

In terms of nature, the natural resources and environment database is a collection of information and data on natural resources and the environment that has been examined, evaluated, organized, managed, and stored systematically.

In terms of purpose, natural resources and environmental data are built, updated and maintained to serve state management and economic, social, defense, security, scientific research and education activities. training and raising people’s intellectual level.

In terms of authority, the natural resources and environment database is divided into 4 groups as follows:

Classification	Definition
National natural resources and environment database	Being a natural resources and environment database that is compiled, linked, and integrated with national natural resources and environment databases built, stored, and managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Database of natural resources and environment of Ministries and Branches	Being an integrated database, compiled from information and data on natural resources and the environment under the management of Ministries and Branches as well as built, stored and managed by Ministries and Branches.
Provincial natural resources and environment database	Being an integrated database, compiled from information and data on natural resources and environment under the management of the Provincial People’s Committee as well as built, stored and managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
Specialized database on natural resources and environment	Being a database built, stored and managed by specialized field management organizations under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In accordance with the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, environmental information includes: (1) Information regarding pollutants, discharges of pollutants into the environment, and pollution sources; environmental protection of investment projects, facilities, production, business, concentrated service zones, industrial clusters; (2) Information regarding solid waste, hazardous waste, wastewater, exhaust gases and other types of waste; (3) Information regarding the decision to approve appraisal results and environmental impact assessment reports, except for trade secrets, business secrets, and information classified as state secrets; content of licensing, registration, certification, certification; results of inspection and inspection of environmental protection for investment projects, establishments, production, business, concentrated service zones, and industrial clusters; (4) Information on environmental statistical indicators, environmental quality, environmental pollution; (5) Information regarding natural heritage, natural ecosystems, species and genetic resources; nature reserves and biodiversity conservation facilities; important wetlands.

Currently, many Provinces and Cities in our country have also implemented the collection and statistics of information and data on natural resources and the environment. For example, the report of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Tien Giang Province in May 2023 indicates that the natural resources and environment database at the Unit includes waste source data, biodiversity data, environmental quality data, environmental statistical data and related documents. Specifically divided into 4 groups of information and data as follows:

Classification	Environmental information
Waste sources	Managing detailed information regarding investors, establishments, concentrated production and business service zones, craft villages, information on inspection, examination, fee collection notices and so on in the Province.
Environmental quality	Managing detailed information regarding monitoring programs, monitoring points/stations, and sources at risk of causing environmental incidents.
Diversitybiology	Managing detailed information regarding facilities and conservation areas.
Documentary file	Managing detailed information regarding the list of environmental impact assessments, list of environmental permits, and list of periodic monitoring reports of investors.

From understanding the current situation and data on natural resources and the environment as above, the author will analyze regulations and policies related to copyright protection for information and data on natural resources and the environment as well as partly evaluating the limitations in current protection policies and making practical recommendations to solve the problem in Part 2 of the article.

Please refer to the full research titled Copyright protection of natural resource and environmental information and data HERE.

Author: Nguyễn Hoàng Nam, School of Economics, Laws and Government, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH).

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the “Research Contribution For All – Nghiên Cứu Vì Cộng Đồng” message, UEH cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming UEH Research Insights No. #113.

News & photos: Author, UEH Department of Marketing & Communication