Piracy stalls RI's home entertainment
Piracy stalls RI's home entertainment
By Marselli Sumarno
JAKARTA (JP): Gope Samptani's experience epitomizes the
prospects of the home video business in Indonesia.
In 1988, Gope and seven other importers began a video
business. In the two years he spent in the new field, he imported
more than 300 Mandarin and American films.
The video cassettes he imported, however, faced stiff
competition from much cheaper pirated cassettes. He therefore
couldn't sell his stock.
Only after Gope had imported 500 titles did he give up.
"I suffered a great loss," he says.
Gope has stayed away from the video importing business for
five years.
"I haven't got the courage yet. I still maintain a wait-and-
see attitude," he said, adding that piracy is why the home video
business is not thriving.
There are only four video importers, half the previous total
number in 1988.
Even the prospering laser disc (LD) business has not escaped
the impact of illegal selling and rental activities. It also
faces competition from recordings smuggled into Indonesia.
The government first allowed the import of LDs in 1993. Since
then, the LD market has fared quite well. In Jakarta there are
over 154 shops renting or selling LDs and video cassettes. Laser
discs generally sell for over Rp 100,000, while rentals go for Rp
5000 a day. There are a great variety of LDs, from cartoons to
classics like High Noon and Gone with the Wind.
According to a businessman, LD rentals are brisker than sales.
The rental business is lucrative because most rental shops bind
consumers in a package. A consumer pays more than Rp 100,000 to
rent 20 LDs. Door-to-door LD rentals are cheaper.
It is easy to find LD films which have not been distributed
here or are still playing in cinemas. Which leads to the question
of legality.
The Indonesian and American governments have cooperated on
copyrights since March 1989. In practice, however, the
cooperation touches more on audio products.
In 1991, a Motion Picture Export Association of America
representative hit Indonesia's illegal video cassette market
hard. The representative witnessed the burning of illegal video
cassettes in Jakarta.
Last April an attempt was made to eliminate all illegal
recordings from Jakarta. According to Semyon Sinulingga, head of
the Municipal Film Control Agency, all video cassettes and LDs
not bearing stickers from the Film Censorship Board were
considered illegal and were confiscated and destroyed.
Recordings without stickers, LD films still being screened in
cinemas, and films containing pornography are liable to be
confiscated.
Greeted with mixed feelings by sellers, rental operators and
the community, the police seized 1,775 stickerless LDs in April.
The effort to eradicate illegal recording may help Gope revive
his video business.
"Efforts regarding illegal recordings must continue," he said.
"Law enforcement must be effective in stopping people
distributing the material."
The 1992 Law on Films states that a person proven to own or
distribute uncensored recordings is subject to a maximum of five
years imprisonment or a fine of $23,000, he says.
The entire Indonesian audio-visual industry could change
shortly. New importers are now ready to take up the home video
business. Prospects are flourishing with some U.S. companies
preparing to return and a potential market of 4.6 million video
cassette recorders and 450,000 LD players in the country.
Warner Home Video led the charge in April when it signed a
two-year licensing deal with Indonesian distributor Vision Home
Entertainment. Later, Columbia TriStar Home Video signed a deal
with Kenchana Pratama Bhakti, the distributor division of
Mitraguna Likorindo.
Eko Supardjo, chairman of Asirevi, the Indonesian Video
Importers Association, is optimistic. With product flowing in
from at least two major distributors and stores getting better
organized, "we'll see a boom in the near future," he told the
international entertainment weekly magazine, Variety.