Novelist Gan files lawsuit against 'Indosiar'

Novelist Gan files lawsuit against 'Indosiar'

JAKARTA (JP): An author of traditional martial arts novels has
filed a lawsuit against the privately-owned Indosiar television
station for allegedly using his stories in two television serials
without permission.

Karsa Laksana Gani, 68, who is widely known as Gan K.L.,
formally lodged a complaint with the city police yesterday.

He claimed that the stories of the television serials entitled
Return of the Condor Heroes and To Liong To aired by the station
were originally his works.

According to Gan, an Indonesian citizen of Chinese origin who
currently lives in Semarang, Central Java, the two stories were
originally from China which he compiled in the Hokkian dialect in
the early 1960s.

Indosiar, he said, purchased the films which were still in
their old formats in Hong Kong but later aired them using Gan's
version, which is in the form of novels.

The serials are dubbed in Indonesian.

In the television serial of Return of the Condor Heroes,
originally entitled Sin Tiauw Hiap Lu, only the name of the main
character of the film is slightly different, he said.

"I named the character Yo Ko while Indosiar names him Nyo Ko,"
he said. "But the other characters are absolutely similar," he
added.

"Serial To Liong To aired by Indosiar daily from Monday to
Friday beginning at 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is no different from
my story which I compiled since 1961," Gan said.

Return of the Condor Heroes aired in June and July while To
Liong To has been aired since July.

According to Gan, the copyright violation by Indosiar against
his works has caused him financial losses.

"Normally, at least 10,000 copies of my novels are sold each
year," claimed the author of hundreds of novels.

"But a thousand copies is a record for me today," he said.

Last month, he said, an executive of the broadcasting firm
called and expressed his apology to the author, saying that
Indosiar had no idea about Gan's works.

There has since been no further steps taken by the company
while it continues to air To Liong To, Gan said.

Although his complaint has been lodged, "it's still possible
for Indosiar to solve this case outside of court," he said.

"What I need is just a small amount of compensation for my
work," said Gan.

Indosiar, the newest private television station, is owned by
the Salim group, the country's largest conglomerate, which is
controlled by Sudono Salim. (bsr)