Police ignorant about art crimes<\/p>\n
By Yusuf S.H.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The police have been sitting idly by amid the
\nstartling growth of fine art crime. Even when Indonesia's fine
\nart world was jolted by an exhibition of allegedly \"forged\"
\npaintings in Jakarta, late last year the police still failed to
\ntake any decisive action against the growing problem. The reason?<\/p>\n
As the curiosity of Indonesian artists is mounting, head of
\nthe police detective unit for economic matters of the capital
\ncity's Metro Jaya regional police, Adjunct Sr. Comr Benny AJ
\nMokalu made a direct and honest assessment, \"We admit that we do
\nnot know much about art. That's why we have never handled these
\ntypes of cases.\"<\/p>\n
This statement was in line with what head of the police
\ndetective unit of the capital city's Metro Jaya regional police
\nwrote in his paper titled Fine Art Copyright, Intellectural
\nProperty Rights and its Law Enforcement.<\/p>\n
He wrote that the limited legal action taken by the police
\nagainst copyright-related crimes in fine art was largely
\nattributable to limitations in the number and qualifications of
\nhuman resources.<\/p>\n
To solve this problem, he called for cooperation involving
\ngovernment agencies related to intellectural property rights of
\nfine art in Indonesia to ensure that the fine art community
\n(artists, creators, collectors and so forth) can enjoy legal
\nprotection.<\/p>\n
It was this aspect that gained prominence in a seminar on
\ncopyright-related crimes in fine art, held at Galeri Nasional
\nIndonesia, the Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta, on Tuesday,
\nJan. 30 in cooperation with the Indonesian Fine Art Foundation
\n(YSRI) and The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Apart from Benny Mokalu, who represented the head of the
\npolice detective unit of Metro Jaya police, Sr. Comr. Harry
\nMontolalu, the speakers in the seminar also included the curator
\nof the National Gallery Merwan Yusuf and Cita Citrawinda
\nPriapantja of Roosseno Patent Rights Bureau.<\/p>\n
The keynote speaker was Walter Simanjuntak, who represented
\nthe Director General of Rights over Intellectual Property of the
\nMinistry Justice and Human Rights. The seminar was opened by
\nAbdurrahman, secretary of the Director General of Cultural
\nAffairs.<\/p>\n
According to Citrawinda, a master's degree holder in
\nintellectual property rights graduating from Franklin Pierce Law
\nCenter, Concord, New Hampshire, United States, and a doctorate in
\nlaw from the University of Indonesia, the police can take action
\nand don't need to wait for complaints from the community because
\na crime in fine art belongs to the category of ordinary offenses,
\nnot that of offenses warranting a complaint. Wina Armada, a legal
\npractitioner acting as the moderator of the seminar concurred
\nwith her.<\/p>\n
Although it is true that crime in fine art is an ordinary
\noffense, Benny insisted that the community should file a
\ncomplaint and be ready to testify. This complaint, he said in
\nresponse to a question from one of the participants, can be filed
\ndirectly to the production and trade unit of the local police. He
\nsuggested, however, that the complaint should not be filed to a
\npolice sub-precinct owing to their limitations in human
\nresources.<\/p>\n
\"This is a solution that will enable us to take action. In the
\ncase of the exhibition of alleged fake paintings at the Regent
\nHotel the other day, if anybody is willing to file a complaint
\nand testify, we will shortly process the complaint,\" said Benny
\namid applause from participants. Unfortunately, Adelia Rangkuti
\nwas not there to hear this statement. Adelia organized the
\nexhibition called Exhibition of Pre World War II Paintings, which
\ndisplayed and auctioned the collection of antique goods collector
\nJ. Syahdam. The exhibition and auction was halted.<\/p>\n
Benny also suggested, in line with the idea readily discussed
\nin the fine art community, that a special copyrights institution
\nlike YKCI\/ASIRI in the music sector should be established so that
\nit can coordinate with the police and other law-enforcement
\napparatuses in dealing with crime in fine art.<\/p>\n
In response, head of the National Gallery Watie Moerani hinted
\nthat preparatory action had been taken to follow-up this idea.
\nShe said one of the goals in organizing this seminar was exactly
\nthe establishment of such an institution.<\/p>\n
She added that the National Gallery management hoped that
\ncrime in fine art would be thoroughly dealt with shortly to
\nensure that the creative atmosphere in Indonesia could continue
\nto be protectively developed, nurtured and fostered.<\/p>\n
Moral and Economic Rights<\/p>\n
A copyright, said Citrawinda, inherently comprises two rights,
\na moral right and an economic right. Once a work of art is
\ncreated and sold, the copyright is not automatically sold as
\nwell. If a buyer of a painting (a collector, a trader, etc. )
\nreproduces the painting, for example, for a calendar, without the
\nartist' consent, the artist can sue him.<\/p>\n
Article 44 of the Law on Copyrights stipulates, Whoever
\ndeliberately and without right publishes or reproduces a creation
\nor grants a permit to do so shall be punishable with a maximum
\nimprisonment of 7 years and\/or a maximum fine of Rp 100 million.<\/p>\n
Art forgeries, Citrawinda added, are subject to sub-articles
\n(1) and (2) of Article 380 of the Criminal Code. In this respect,
\nit must be borne in mind that not only the mastermind but also
\nrelated parties will be legally implicated because the principle
\nof offense of accomplices applies in this case. The moderator,
\nWina Armada, also added that in the case of the exhibition of
\nforged paintings at the Regent those legally implicated would be
\nthose forging the paintings, the collector and the organizer.<\/p>\n
Speaking about art forgeries, Merwan Yusuf suspected that art
\nforgeries were usually carried out in groups: those painting the
\nforgeries, those placing an order and those granting legitimacy.<\/p>\n
The works usually imitated are those by noted, dead artists
\nwith a high selling price. To ensure that the forgery will go
\nsmoothly, the biography of the artist whose works are to be
\nimitated, will be seriously studied. A good understanding of this
\nbiography is import for an alibi or a cooked-up story.<\/p>\n
In a forged painting, it is usually the case to use a new
\nmaterial which has been given the effect of age (in the paint,
\nfor example) or to forge the style. Painting forgery may be
\ndivided into complete forgery, partial forgery or style forgery.<\/p>\n
What about copying? Copying of a work is justified only when a
\npermit has been obtained and this copying is intended for study,
\nresearch or other non-profit purposes. The copied version must be
\nsmaller in size than the original, and it must mention the name
\nof the painter.<\/p>\n
In Europe, the name of the painter whose work is copied is
\nplaced on the front side of the canvas while in the United States
\non the reverse side,\" he said, without stating what the practice
\nwas like in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Fine-art observer Mamannoor, the moderator for the session in
\nwhich Merwan Yusuf read his paper, added that many paintings by
\nIndonesian noted painters have been the target of forgery such as
\nworks by Affandi, S. Soedjojono, Popo Iskandar, Jeihan, Widayat
\nand Barli.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Walter Simanjuntak told the seminar that 20 percent
\nof GNP in the United States come from copyrights (in music, films
\netc). Therefore, he called on the fine art community and law-
\nenforcement apparatuses to thoroughly deal with copyright-related
\ncrimes in the fine art sector. Unfortunately, as he admitted
\nhimself, law-enforcement apparatuses in Indonesia remain poorly
\ncoordinated.<\/p>",
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