Law Minister Highlights Royalty Distribution Issues, Says Creative Industry Pressured by AI

Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas has highlighted the imbalance in royalty distribution in the digital era. Supratman assesses that the media and creative industries are increasingly under pressure amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence or artificial imitation (AI).

“Our media industry is now experiencing extraordinary turbulence because AI has taken everything and does not provide maximum economic benefits to our media industry friends,” Supratman stated while attending The ASEAN Collective Management Organization event in Kuta, Badung, Bali, on Friday (10/4/2026).

Supratman said AI has taken much material without providing commensurate economic benefits to content owners. The Ministry of Law, he added, is preparing a proposal for international cooperation in the form of a treaty. This is to regulate digital royalty systems for music as well as journalistic works. The proposal will be brought to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) forum.

“That is why our idea is to create a proposal in the form of a treaty at the level of the World Intellectual Property Organization, namely WIPO. This will be an opportunity for us to regulate royalties, digital royalties, whether for music or journalism works,” he added.

Supratman emphasised the importance of fairness in the distribution of royalties between digital platforms and creators, producers, and other creative industry players. “The benefits must be distributed fairly. Not evenly, but fairly is the key word,” he continued.

According to Supratman, the government is also examining ways to strengthen protection for journalistic works so that they are recognised as part of intellectual property rights (IPR). He said he has received various inputs from media industry players regarding this. The government targets that the initial document can be submitted at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) session in Geneva next May.