ASEAN CMO Forum Produces Four Statements on Digital Royalty Management Strategies

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The ASEAN Collective Management Organization (CMO) Forum, held on 9-10 April 2026 in Bali, has produced four statements related to strategies for collaborative digital royalty governance. According to an official statement in Jakarta on Saturday, the ASEAN CMO Forum acknowledges that fragmentation in copyright administration and inconsistencies in metadata across jurisdictions pose structural challenges that hinder accurate and fair royalty distribution throughout the ASEAN region. Therefore, the forum reaffirms that accountability, transparency, and compliance with international governance standards are essential prerequisites for the legitimacy and effectiveness of collective management organisations. Strengthening cooperation among collective management organisations across the ASEAN region is essential to realise a fair, transparent, and sustainable digital royalty ecosystem for all creators and rights holders. The four statements from the ASEAN CMO Forum are as follows: 1. Agreement to develop a unified regional position on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on music copyrights, encompassing the use of works in AI model training, revenue distribution generated by AI-based platforms, and effective protection for creators and rights holders in the digital environment, including through advocacy in relevant international copyright forums; 2. Maintaining communication, coordination, and cooperation between CMOs and governments in the ASEAN region, serving as a strategic platform for sharing best practices, exchanging information, and developing mutual benefits in regional and international forums; 3. Establishing and implementing minimum standards for digital royalty governance across the ASEAN region, including reporting transparency, distribution accountability, and fair partnerships with digital platforms, with the aim of ensuring optimal protection of creators’ and rights holders’ rights; 4. Institutionalising the ASEAN CMO Forum as a sustainable regional consultative mechanism, with regular meetings and a structured framework for monitoring the implementation of shared commitments. Director General of Intellectual Property (KI) from the Ministry of Law, Hermansyah Siregar, stated that the ASEAN CMO meeting will continue with the next stage of dialogue in the same forum. “We hope this forum can continue to be held as a platform for sharing best practices among CMOs in ASEAN, so that a more transparent, accountable, and just royalty system is created for creators,” he said. The Indonesian government, through the Directorate General of KI, will request that ASEAN-wide CMO meetings be included in the cooperation of the AWGIPC (ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation).