Copyright laws should cater to cultures' needs<\/p>\n
Indonesia has often been criticized for rampant intellectual
\nproperty rights violations. A seminar titled Copyright Protection
\nin the Field of Art was held earlier last week in conjunction
\nwith the 27th anniversary of the Jakarta Arts Institute. The
\nseminar featured speakers from various disciplines. The Jakarta
\nPost's contributor Amir Sidharta writes the following article.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The price of cassettes in Indonesia has
\nincreased more than 10 fold in less than 20 years. An indication
\nof the country's high inflation?<\/p>\n
Not really. The price has rocketed in line with improvements
\nto copyright laws here.<\/p>\n
The first laws on copyright were introduced in the Dutch
\nperiod, with the Auterswet of 1912, where copyright became an
\nexclusive right, acknowledged when the materialization of a
\ncreation is completed.<\/p>\n
In 1958, Indonesia rejected the Bern Convention, relieving the
\ncountry from duties to comply with international copyright laws.
\nIn the 1970s and early 1980s, obvious breaches of copyright laws
\nin Indonesia, especially in the recording industry, were ignored
\nby the government. At that time, mediocre quality music cassettes
\nof popular international bands retailed for US$4 in Europe and
\nthe United States. With that money, one could get four high
\nquality recordings of the same albums in Indonesia. The cassettes
\noften even included a selection of the bands' best songs from
\nearlier albums.<\/p>\n
In the early 1980s, the Band Aid\/Live Aid charity album was
\ncompiled by various top musicians for the highly commendable
\npurpose of relieving the victims of famine in Ethiopia. Bob
\nGeldof, the leading figure behind the Band Aid\/Live Aid campaign,
\napparently made sure that the proceeds from the album's sales
\nwent to the charity. It seems that his investigations revealed
\nthat Indonesia had not signed the Geneva convention. He probed
\ninto the case, and lobbied the government to adopt stricter
\ncopyright laws.<\/p>\n
Indonesia drafted its Copyright Act in 1982 and revised it in
\n1987.<\/p>\n
Head of the Legislative Research Division at the Cabinet
\nSecretariat, Henry Soelistyo Budi, said intensive developments in
\ncopyright protection only started after the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n
In an effort to combat the massive piracy of copyright works,
\nespecially on music cassettes as U.S. President Ronald Reagan
\nnoted during his visit to Indonesia in 1986, the Indonesian
\ngovernment formed a team called Tim Keppres 34 with two main
\ntasks, first to finalize the problems in the field of copyright,
\nand secondly, to expedite the drafting of patent laws. Priority
\nwas given to improving the 1982 Copyright Act, followed by
\nincreasing public awareness in the field, including the
\ncoordination in its enforcement, he said. After 1986, the price
\nof cassettes increased to Rp 5,000, Rp 6,000 from Rp 3,000, Rp
\n2,500 or even Rp 1,000. Today, a cassette costs about Rp 10,000.<\/p>\n
Opposition<\/p>\n
Henry said the task met with considerable opposition. The
\npublic, particularly academics, saw that the development of
\ncopyright laws and intellectual property rights, would generally
\nlegitimize a monopolistic culture, which went against the
\nprinciples of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) which is still
\ningrained in public culture today.<\/p>\n
Professor Toeti Heraty, former rector of the Jakarta Arts
\nInstitute, linked copyright (hak cipta) with its counterpart,
\ncreativity (daya cipta). She further explained that the creative
\nprocess, which is composed of various abstract concepts and
\nideas, produces artworks, which are physical and concrete. This
\nprocess provides the creator with a moral right. Once the
\nartworks or art objects are offered to an appreciative public,
\nthen the creator could be entitled to economic rights. Copyrights
\nencompass the moral and economic rights of the creator. The
\nnotion that \"nothing is new under the sun\" makes copyright laws
\nmore and more important.<\/p>\n
Many artists, particularly recording musicians, have benefited
\ngreatly from Indonesian copyright laws. Songwriter Rinto Harahap,
\nwho is famous for his corny love songs, for example, has become a
\nwealthy millionaire from the sale of his music.<\/p>\n
However, most artists who have not reaped great benefits from
\ncopyright regulations -- like sculptor Sumarjono and photographer
\nDodo Karundeng -- believe that creating art is still more a
\nmatter of dedication rather than something that is motivated by
\npotential economic return. Although Dodo Karundeng clearly
\nrealizes the significance of copyright in his field, he does not
\nthink that the issue of copyright and the economic returns he
\ngets is the main force behind his creativity.<\/p>\n
The stress on the importance of copyright laws certainly can
\nbe seen as an effort to transform communal creators in
\nagricultural traditions into consumers in industrial cultures.
\nThat copyright laws do motivate creativity seems to be an
\nacceptable notion, but whether the laws also maintain qualitative
\ncreativity or merely quantitative creativity, still needs to be
\nstudied. Has copyright protection motivated songwriter Rinto
\nHarahap to produce better songs, or are they still lost in
\nmediocrity?<\/p>\n
Although at this time most artists do not care about copyright
\nlaws, most agree that they need to become more aware of the
\nmatter. Yet, conventional copyright laws which are valid today
\nneed to also consider the needs of traditional communities.<\/p>\n
The emphasis on conventional copyright conventions is on the
\nend product, and not on the process. The Berne convention clearly
\nstates that \".... works shall not be protected unless they have
\nbeen fixed in some material form.\"<\/p>\n
Henry believes that \"everything under the sun is
\ncopyrightable\", as he responded to the notion that \"nothing is
\nnew under the sun.\" Yet, whether or not copyright can ever be
\napplied to immaterial concepts and creative processes remains to
\nbe seen. For now such considerations are extremely unlikely.
\nHowever, even material forms can be interpreted many ways.<\/p>\n
Bali<\/p>\n
In a country where artistic creation has traditionally been a
\ncommunal effort which is often anonymous, the adoption of
\ncopyright laws needs to be addressed with special attention.
\nBalinese art, for example, was for a long time considered
\nanonymous, as it was done as a communal effort. Balinese artists,
\nreinterpreted certain subject matters again and again, striving
\nto achieve perfection. The concept of creativity in many
\ntraditional cultures in Indonesia is cyclical rather than linear.<\/p>\n
Handicraft in Bali developed with this paradigm in mind.
\nTherefore, when Balinese craftspeople make Baris frog
\nstatuettes, they really may not consider that they are mass
\nproducing artifacts, but rather that each statuette they make is
\na work of art in itself.<\/p>\n
In 1986, an American producer of cat statues known as \"Pop
\nArt\" tried to sue a Balinese for producing similar statues. At
\nthe time the Indonesian Copyright Act did not yet protect works
\nwith international copyrights, and therefore it was impossible
\nfor the American company to press charges in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The \"Pop Art\" case can be considered minor when compared to
\nanother case which concerns batik designs. Many foreign
\nindividuals and companies have taken advantage of Indonesia's
\nlack awareness of copyright laws.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian batik specialist said that many batik traders
\nhave had difficulties marketing batik with certain patterns in
\nAmerica. Apparently this is because some patterns have been
\ncopyrighted by a large handicraft company, whose proprietor is an
\nAmerican writer who had published a book on batik.<\/p>\n
Well-known painter Srihadi Soedarsono was surprised to find
\nhis sketch of President Sukarno in a publication called Indonesia
\nWelcomes You, published by Ismay Publications, Hong Kong. His
\nsignature clearly appears on the bottom of the sketch, but seems
\nto have been partially cropped out of the picture to conceal the
\nidentity of the artist. Although the caption mentions the subject
\nmatter of the sketch, no effort was made to acknowledge the
\nartist.<\/p>\n
Henry said that copyright laws were mainly arranged around the
\nprinciple of lifetime plus 50 years, meaning that the copyright
\napplies for the lifetime of the creator plus 50 years after the
\ncreator's death. Therefore, it is most likely that copyright on
\ntraditional batik patterns is already public domain. However,
\nthere is a postulation that traditional creations are held by the
\nnation of the creation's origin. Within the country, there is no
\nproblem for craftspeople to produce traditional creations, but
\nthey cannot be used by companies outside the country, without
\npermission from the country to which the copyright belongs.<\/p>\n
Hence, there is a possibility that Indonesia could reclaim the
\ncopyrights to the patterns which were claimed by the handicraft
\ncompany. While in the rest of the world, copyright is provided
\nautomatically once a creation is completed, in America copyright
\nmust be registered. But the copyright office does not investigate
\nthe origin of the creation.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has exercised its copyright to traditional creations
\nbefore, for example when a Singapore company proposed building a
\nSoutheast Asian theme park which would feature Borobudur. Henry
\nsaid Indonesia rejected the idea, to protect the sanctity and
\nauthenticity of the monument both as a religious entity as well
\nas a national heritage.<\/p>\n
As the field of art continues to develop, an increasing
\nawareness of the importance of copyright laws will follow.<\/p>\n
In essence, copyright laws need to be seen as an actual global
\nphenomenon. They should not just benefit industrialized countries
\nwhich take advantage of developing countries, but should work to
\nthe benefit of developing and industrializing countries alike.
\nThere are still some aspects of creation in traditional
\ncommunities in Indonesia which can be taken into account to
\nimprove the laws. Once these aspects have been taken into
\naccount, we will have a better chance in seeing even more
\ndevelopments in the acceptance of copyright laws in Indonesia.<\/p>",
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