Ari Gema
Senior Associate
(62) 21 25557814
ari.gema@ahp.co.id

A: Menara Rajawali 16th Floor,
Jalan DR. Ide Anak Agung
Gde Agung Lot # 5.1
Kawasan Mega Kuningan,
Jakarta 12950, Indonesia
T: (62) 21 2555 7800
F: (62) 21 2555 7899
W: www.ahp.co.id

After 12 years, Indonesia has as a new copyright law to replace the previous Copyright Law No. 19 of 2002. The new Copyright Law No. 28 of 2014, which entered into effect on 16 October 2014, was enacted to solve more complex copyright issues in consideration of developments in information and communications technology.

The new Copyright Law emphasizes that a copyright owned by a creator and/or a copyright assigned to a license holder comprises both economic and moral rights. The scope of the economic rights in relation to a particular piece of work covers its: (i) publication; (ii) reproduction; (iii) translation; (iv) adaptation, arrangement and transformation; (v) distribution and copies; (vi) performance; (vii) announcement; (viii) communication; and (ix) rental.

On top of that, moral rights constitute the perpetual rights of a creator to: (i) include or not to include his/ her name to a copy of a piece of work that is in the public domain; (ii) use an alias name or pseudonym; (iii) change (his/her work) in accordance with the proprieties of the community; (iv) change the title and subhead of a piece of work; and (v) defend his/ her rights in the event of a distortion, mutilation or modification of the work, or things that may be detrimental to his/her honor or reputation. Further, the new Copyright Law also provides that moral rights cannot be assigned for as long as the creator is still alive. However, the exercise of moral rights can be assigned by will or other courses of action based on the prevailing laws and regulations after the creator passes away.

Under the new Copyright Law, copyright protection for works has been extended from 50 years to 70 years after the death of the creator of books, pamphlets and other written works; speeches, lectures and sermons; music and songs, drama and musical shows and choreographic works; artwork in the form of paintings, drawings, batik, carvings and sculptures; and architectural work, visual aids and maps. If a piece of work is owned by a legal entity, the period of protection still remains 50 years from the time of publication.

If an assignment of rights agreement to works such as books and other written works, and songs and music, does not stipulate the duration of the assignment period, by law the copyright ownership will automatically be assigned back to the original author after 25 years.

The new Copyright Law also provides for the establishment of two National Collective Management Societies (NCMS), which represent the interest of the author/copyright holders and neighbouring rights holders in the musical field. They are created with the purpose to determine the amount of royalties as well as the collection and distribution of royalties from the works for the benefit of the author/copyright holder and neighbouring rights holder. The NCMS has recently been established and they are in the midst of developing their internal organizational management and setting standard royalty amounts.

In light of copyright infringements on the internet, there is now a dedicated provision that gives new powers to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (MOLHR) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MOCIT) to coordinate the blocking of access to materials that are infringed on websites. The implementing regulations for this provision are currently being prepared by the MOLHR and MOCIT.

Under the old Copyright Law, the law enforcement authorities could immediately launch an investigation if they suspected a violation of copyright, even in the absence of a complaint from the author or copyright holder. To address the potential for abuse that this gave rise to, the new Copyright Law provides that an alleged copyright infringement can only be investigated by the authorities if a complaint is filed by the author or copyright holder. This also affords the copyright owner greater visibility and control over the criminal investigation process. It also allows the copyright owner to withdraw the complaint, if so desired.

In addition to the ability to enforce the expanded economic rights, there is a new provision which creates a landlord liability principle wherein the landlord of commercial premises, i.e. retail stores, shops, traditional markets etc., has the obligation to prohibit any businesses operating within their premises from selling, distributing, copying or duplicating protected copyright works. Failure to comply, which is classified as a willful act to prevent infringements of copyright materials, will result in the offending party being subject to fines of up to IDR 100 million.

To emphasize the economic rights of the author and the copyright holder, the new Copyright Law imposes criminal sanctions for copyright infringements for commercial purposes. The new Copyright Law increases the amount of fines. Terms of imprisonment are not so heavy for the end sellers of infringed works, but heavy sanctions are available in the case of the producers of infringed works. It also introduces “piracy” as a copyright crime. The term “piracy” refers to the copying and distribution of works extensively so as to gain economic benefits. This will result in the offending party being subject to a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to IDR 4 billion.