Batik copyright urgent, Try says

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno called on Indonesian batik designers and artists yesterday to pursue copyrights of their designs to protect against long-term financial loss.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 1997 International Batik Conference and Exhibition, Try said batik copyrights were an urgent step.

"With tighter competition, there is a greater possibility of piracy of batik designs by means of high technology," he said.

He said batik designers and artists should not merely become the "workers" of the batik industry which is controlled and managed by huge capital owners.

The Vice President said it was ironic that the batik community still considered plagiarism as a common and acceptable occurrence.

"Some designers and artists are even proud if people imitate their designs and use it in mass production," he said. "We cannot leave such problems unsolved, and must actively campaign on the importance of securing copyrights of their designs."

Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who came to Indonesia to attend the batik conference, concurred with Try.

"Indonesian batik designers and artists should strive to obtain copyrights of their designs," Schmidt said as he addressed participants of the conference.

But he reminded designers and artists that obtaining copyrights would not automatically mean that their designs would be free from plagiarism.

"We can learn from the world's popular watchmaker Rolex that there are still a lot of fake wrist-watches sold in the world markets although its designs have been registered," he said.

Schmidt said given its immense popularity, Indonesia could not claim batik as its national identity anymore.

"Batik production is not dominated by Indonesia anymore as many countries have also developed batik designs of their own," he said.

Potential

Try also called on the Indonesian batik community to seriously develop the art.

"Batik is a potential commodity to increase the country's income," he said.

He said that batik is used by all regardless of social status. Celebrities, executives, heads of state and even the everyday sidewalk vendor can all have an affection for batik.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, who also attended yesterday's opening, said modern batik designers should appreciate the old designs which were used as the inspiration for new ones.

"The development of batik will depend on the harmony between old and new designs," Wardiman said. "With harmony there will be a 'fair deal' for batik."

The 1997 International Batik Conference and Exhibition will run here until Thursday.

Some 517 batik experts from 28 countries are participating in the conference.

Participants will hold discussions and workshops on classical batik motifs belonging to the Yogyakarta and Solo palaces.

They will also hold a workshop for modern batik, a batik sale and a fashion show.

To help promote the exhibition, the local administration has instructed government employees to wear batik attire while at work for the week. (23/swa/imn)