Artist wins copyright case

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta District Court ordered three recording companies here on Tuesday to pay Rp 16 million for infringing copyright by selling recordings of an artist's song without her permission.

The court also ordered PT Aufikomunikasi Mediopro, PT Blackboard Indonesia and PT Universal Music Indonesia to issue a public apology to Roweina Sahertian, the artist, in a national newspaper as well as to order a halt to the recording, utilization and distribution of the song titled Rasa Hati.

However, the court, which was presided over by judge Djirin Y. Roesmono, rejected Roweina's request for material damages of some Rp 372.3 million and nonmaterial damages of Rp 500 million from the companies.

Roweina, who appears in the soap opera Elegi Dua Cinta, had signed a contractual agreement with PT Aufikomunikasi on April 22, 1999, to star in the daytime drama.

But in addition to acting in the show, PT Aufikomunikasi assigned her to sing a song which later became its soundtrack. The song was recorded by PT Blackboard.

Roweina voiced her satisfaction over the verdict after the session. "Hopefully, there won't be another case like this: supervisors violating their subordinates," she told detik.com, referring to the relationship between producers and artists. (04)