Copyright Law Revision: Government Reviews Regulations for AI-Generated Content

The government is currently examining the regulation of works or content created by artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the revision to the Copyright Law.

The Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital, Nezar Patria, stated that the use of AI in the field of journalism needs to be anticipated. Consequently, the government is preparing regulations to serve as a guide for AI usage within the media industry.

“At this time, we are drafting the copyright law to revise the old legislation. Therefore, matters regarding AI may be included in the copyright law, but I cannot comment on that yet as it is still in progress,” Nezar said when met at Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta, on Thursday.

According to Nezar, the government is still discussing the extent to which AI-generated content will be regulated within the Copyright Law revision.

One of the key focus areas is the protection of copyright for journalistic works. The government is assessing the scope of copyright protection for journalism during the discussions on the law’s revision.

“Whether journalistic works fall into the category that is fully protected by copyright, or if there are other parts of journalistic products that will be protected under the copyright law,” he added.

Meanwhile, Atma Jaya Catholic University Professor Selvie Sinaga explained that various media companies abroad have filed lawsuits regarding the copyright of their journalistic works being used by AI companies.

She cited the lawsuit by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft regarding the use of copyrighted articles to train AI models. Similar cases have occurred in Japan, where Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun sued Perplexity.

Selvie assessed that the development of these cases demonstrates legal issues that need to be clarified when copyrighted works are used in the development or operation of AI.

In Indonesia, she noted, copyright protection currently refers to the existing Copyright Law. However, these regulations do not specifically address the use of AI. She expressed hope that the revision of the Copyright Law would provide a clearer legal basis regarding AI usage.

In addition to the Copyright Law, Selvie also mentioned Presidential Regulation Number 32 of 2024 concerning the Responsibility of Digital Platform Companies to Support Quality Journalism.