First News wins lawsuit against pirating local schools
By Huy Nguyen in HCMC
First News on Thursday announced it has won a landmark lawsuit against two local schools for illegally using the English curriculum New TOEIC.
The schools are the Australia International English School (AIES) and the Vietnam Australia Society English Center (VAS).
First News director Nguyen Van Phuoc said that after three attempts of reconciliation at the Supreme People’s Court in HCMC, AIES will compensate First News VND380 million. Moreover, the schools will also provide addresses of printing firms for their alleged copyright violations for illegally selling pirated TOIEC English books.
Ho Dang Duy, director of AIES, said: “We have to compensate First News as we admit using pirated books. We are also willing to cooperate to weed out this violation in Vietnam.”
VAS has still to strike a deal with First News. “We and representatives of VAS are still discussing compensation,” said Phuoc.
He added that First News will continue its claims against six schools in HCMC and three in Hanoi for illegally using English curriculums whose copyrights belong to the company.
First News is filing a lawsuit against Huy Thi for printing pirated books of the company.
At a conference at the Continental Hotel Saigon in downtown on Thursday, the company donated VND100 million of the VND380 million compensation from the two schools to Tuoi Tre newspaper’s poor student support fund.
If, as expected, the company is successful in its upcoming lawsuits against printing units who pirated and sold its books, the company will donate more to charitable activities.