Software copyright inspection campaign 07/05–30/05/2026 under Official Dispatch 38/CĐ-TTg

Scope and subjects of inspection

On 5 May 2026, the Prime Minister signed and issued Official Dispatch 38/CĐ-TTg dated 05/05/2026 on combating intellectual property violations; a software inspection campaign at enterprises was launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 07/05/2026. This is the clearest signal yet that the Government is seriously implementing the intellectual property protection roadmap Vietnam has committed to before the international community.

Official Dispatch 38 directs ministries, sectors and localities to conduct inspections at production and business establishments that use computers. Inspection teams are inter-agency task forces comprising inspectors from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Economic Police, in coordination with authorised representatives of software vendors in Vietnam.

• Enterprises with 10 or more computers, regardless of headcount.
• Industries with heavy use of specialised software: architecture, construction, graphic design, accounting, retail.
• Enterprises previously warned or appearing on Microsoft, Adobe, or Autodesk watchlists.
• Private educational institutions and training centres with computer labs.

Fines under Decree 341/2025

Decree 341/2025/NĐ-CP was issued on 26 December 2025 and took effect on 15 February 2026 (Article 63(1)), replacing the earlier regulations on administrative penalties in the field of copyright. Article 5(1) sets the ceiling: the maximum fine is 250 million VND for individuals and 500 million VND for organisations; for the same conduct, the fine on an organisation is twice that on an individual.

How the decree arrives at a figure matters, because it differs from the way this is usually described: fines are not multiplied by the number of software titles, nor tiered by the number of installed copies. Installing or reproducing unlicensed software falls under Article 16 — infringement of the reproduction right, where the brackets escalate by value: unlawful gains obtained, damage caused to the rights holder, or the value of the infringing goods. For the individual brackets, see Decree 341/2025 on penalties for unlicensed software.

Where the conduct shows signs of a criminal offence, Article 61 requires the competent official to transfer the file to the criminal prosecution authorities; commercial legal entities may then be prosecuted under Article 225 of the Penal Code — with fines of up to 3 billion VND.

• Article 16(2) — unauthorised reproduction of a work, rates applying to ORGANISATIONS: from 10–20 million VND at the lowest bracket up to 60–100 million VND at the highest, where unlawful gains run from 60 to under 100 million, or damage to the rights holder from 120 to under 200 million, or the infringing goods are worth from 120 to under 200 million VND.
• Article 39(1) — intentionally removing or disabling an effective technological protection measure (breaking a copy-protection mechanism): 30–50 million VND for individuals, doubled for organisations.
• Article 39(3) — distributing, importing, offering, selling, leasing or stocking for commercial purposes devices, products or components used to circumvent a technological protection measure: 70–100 million VND for individuals, doubled for organisations.
• Supplementary penalties (Article 3(2)): confiscation of the infringing material and of the means used primarily to produce or trade it; suspension of the assessor card or assessment organisation certificate for one to three months. The decree does not provide for publishing the names of violating enterprises.
• Remedial measures (Article 16(4)): destruction, or removal and deletion, of the infringing original and copies on telecommunications networks and the Internet; and repayment to the rights holder of any unlawful gains obtained.

Warning signs that put your business at risk

Before working through the action plan, run a quick self-check against the most common risk indicators Dzo's team encounters when auditing clients:

• Software installed from unknown sources, .exe files downloaded from forums or torrents — especially Adobe, Autodesk, and Microsoft Office.
• A single Microsoft 365 or Adobe CC account used across multiple machines simultaneously.
• Number of machines exceeding the number of purchased licences, even if those licences are otherwise valid.
• No VAT invoice (hoá đơn đỏ) receipts for software purchases in the past three years.
• IT department lacks an inventory of installed software and corresponding licence counts.

7 immediate action steps for enterprises

Based on experience deploying compliance audits for more than 200 enterprises, the following is the optimal roadmap to bring your company into compliance in the shortest possible time.

Step 1 — Full software inventory: instruct IT to compile a list of all software installed on each machine, including name, version, and source. Step 2 — Cross-reference licence documentation: gather licence confirmation emails, VAT invoices, and vendor agreements. Step 3 — Identify gaps: compare the number of running applications against valid licences, noting exactly how many copies are missing for each title.

Step 4 — Prioritise high-risk software: Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office / 365, and Autodesk AutoCAD are the primary focus of inspection checklists. Step 5 — Purchase additional genuine licences with VAT invoices (hoá đơn đỏ): buy through an authorised reseller; avoid purchasing from individuals who cannot issue valid electronic VAT invoices. Step 6 — Compile a compliance dossier: consolidate the inventory report, licence documentation, records of remediated violations, and internal software policy. Step 7 — Schedule periodic audits every six months.

Conclusion: acting early is always cheaper than paying fines

The software copyright inspection campaign of 07/05–30/05/2026 under Official Dispatch 38/CĐ-TTg is not the first warning, but it is the strongest signal yet that the Government will enforce compliance rigorously this time. With a ceiling of 500 million VND for organisations under Decree 341/2025 and brackets that escalate with the value of the licence shortfall, the cost of licensing properly still falls well short of the consequences of being penalised.

Enterprises that act early retain more options: phased purchases aligned with budget cycles, the right plan for their needs, and time to prepare complete documentation. Enterprises that wait until inspectors arrive will have no such options.

This article is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Legal citations were checked against the original texts at the time of writing (see the Sources section below), but laws may change and each situation has its own specifics. Consult an intellectual property lawyer before making decisions.