Govt told to step up fight against copyright infringement

Govt told to step up fight against copyright infringement

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Intellectual Property Society
called on the government on Monday to take tougher action in
curbing copyright infringement in Indonesia or face possible
retaliation in the near future.

Gunawan Suryomurcito, chairman of the Indonesian Intellectual
Property Society, warned that retribution may be forthcoming as
copyright infringement of products from many countries is rampant
here.

"Indonesia is ranked fourth after China, Hong Kong and India
on the priority watch list of copyright infringements," he said.

"Industrial countries, home to companies whose trademarks are
pirated in Indonesia could limit the import of our products," he
said.

He said numerous fake products of famous brand names such as
Versace, Sony and Levis were freely traded in Indonesian markets
without any restrictive measures by authorities.

"The presence of fake consumer goods of low quality has
affected not only consumers but also the economy, because in
addition to causing material losses to consumers, counterfeiters
and fake goods producers also do not pay taxes to the
government," he said.

Police were urged to raid not only producers of these fake
products but also take action against the traders knowingly
selling these items.

There was also concern that the law itself may have to be
reviewed as it is considered too light.

The law stipulates a maximum three-year jail sentence or Rp
300 million fine for copyright, patent, or intellectual property
infringements.

"The punishment is too light because professional
counterfeiters are able to bribe law enforcers above Rp 300
million to avoid legal actions," he said. (rms)