TikTok being sued by Vietnamese tech firm for US$9.5 million over copyright infringement
- Vietnam’s VNG accuses the Chinese-owned company of using audio tracks in its videos without adequate licences or the company’s consent
- This comes as TikTok and parent Bytedance file lawsuits against US President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transactions with the app
VNG is accusing the Chinese-owned company of using audio tracks owned by Zing, a VNG subsidiary, without the company’s consent, two sources familiar with the issue said.
A legal document from the people’s court of Ho Chi Minh City seen by Reuters seeks damages from TikTok and demands that it ceases use of Zing’s music.
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“VNG requests TikTok remove all music segments taken from Zing records from both the TikTok application and website, and an indemnification for damages of over 221 billion dong (US$9.5 million),” read the document.
TikTok and VNG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
VNG Corporation is a Vietnam-based technology firm founded in 2004, known for its online games, music streaming and messaging applications.
TikTok has soared in popularity in Vietnam, where it recorded 10 million users as of August with millions of short-clip uploads to the platform, official data showed.
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But some music rights-holders say TikTok does not have adequate licences for the songs being used in its videos.
“Notably, TikTok has introduced a very complicated business model to avoid copyright compliance in Vietnam,” the Vietnam Music Association said in a response to questions from Reuters.
TikTok said it had tried to engage with the US administration for nearly a year, but faced “a lack of due process” and that the government paid no attention to the facts.
“To ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and users are treated fairly, we have no choice but to challenge the executive order through the judicial system,” the company said in a statement. TikTok’s owner ByteDance issued a separate statement on Sunday saying it will officially file a lawsuit against Trump administration on Monday.
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While TikTok is best known for its anodyne videos of people dancing and going viral among teenagers, US officials have expressed concerns that information on users could be passed on to China’s government.
