Magazine chief editor jailed for copyright violation<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced a monthly
\nmagazine's chief editor on Monday to one year in jail for
\nillegally publishing a number of racy photographs featuring Ratna
\nSari Dewi, one of former president Soekarno's wives.<\/p>\n
Defendant Warsito Wahono, who directs Indonesia's What's On
\nmagazine, was also ordered to pay Rp 10 million in damages to
\nDewi.<\/p>\n
In its verdict, the court found Warsito guilty of the illegal
\npublication of the photos in edition No. 138 of the magazine,
\nwhich hit the newsstands in November 1998.<\/p>\n
The photos were taken from a book by Dewi titled Madame D
\nSyuga.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant is also guilty of publishing materials that
\nhave been banned by the government,\" said presiding Judge
\nRukmini.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges, which also included Bambang Sriwulan and
\nPanusunan Harahap, rejected Warsito's defense that he had not
\nviolated copyright law as his magazine had mentioned the source
\nof the pictures in the article, which primarily concerned Dewi's
\ncontroversial life.<\/p>\n
Warsito was charged under article 44 of Law No. 12\/1997 on
\ncopyright, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail
\nand liability to pay damages of up to Rp 100 million.<\/p>\n
Previously, prosecutor M. Manik recommended that the court
\nsentence Warsito to two years in jail and order him to pay Rp 20
\nmillion in damages.<\/p>\n
Warsito told reporters after the hearing that he would appeal.<\/p>\n
The government banned Dewi's book Madame D Syuga in 1993. Dewi
\nmarried Soekarno in the early 1960s.<\/p>\n
Photographer Hideki Fuji took the pictures of her between May
\nand August 1993. They were later published in the book by Scholar
\nPublisher's Inc.<\/p>\n
Dewi, otherwise known as Naoko Nemoto, possesses the copyright
\nto the book as the publisher went bankrupt some years ago.<\/p>\n
Dewi, who claimed that the magazine had never asked her for
\npermission to publish the pictures, reported Warsito to the
\nJakarta Police on Feb. 9, 1999.<\/p>\n
She filed two complaints, one of defamation and one of
\ncopyright violation. However, Warsito could only be charged with
\ncopyright violation as the defamation action was considered
\nstatute barred due to the fact that under the Criminal Law
\nProcedures Code the right to take such an action only subsists
\nfor one year after a complaint has been lodged.<\/p>\n
Violations of copyright law are nothing new here. However, few
\nof the cases come before the criminal courts despite the
\nexistence of the law on copyright.<\/p>\n
According to prosecutor Manik, Dewi's case was the first of
\nits kind handled by the Central Jakarta Prosecutors Office.<\/p>\n
Usually, a person or corporation that is a victim of a
\ncopyright violation files a lawsuit in the civil courts against
\nthe alleged violators.<\/p>\n
Giant computer producer Microsoft Corp. sued five local
\ncomputer vendors last year for illegally installing some of its
\nsoftware in the computers they sold.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court and the West Jakarta
\nDistrict Court found the vendors to have violated copyright law
\nand ordered them to pay between US$800,000 and $4.4 million in
\ndamages.<\/p>\n
The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimated
\nrevenue losses from copyright piracy in Indonesia in 1999 reached
\nUS$186 million.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/magazine-chief-editor-jailed-for-copyright-violation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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