Publishers want 1990 law delayed

Publishers want 1990 law delayed

JAKARTA (JP): Book publishers and recording companies have
requested that the government postpone yet again the
implementation of the 1990 Deposit Act, which stipulates they
have to deposit copies of their products in the National Library.

The Indonesian Association of Recording Industries (ASIRI) and
the Indonesian Books Publishers (IKAPI) have reportedly asked for
postponement because they are not ready to comply with the law.

Ediyami Bondan Andoko, head of the Department for the
Preservation and Deposit of materials at the Library, said the
government had initially planned to enforce the law last month.
Because of this request, it decided to enact the law and its
accompanying 1994 directives in June.

Once the law and directives are in effect, book publishers and
recording companies which fail to deposit at least two copies of
each of their products with the National Library and 26
provincial libraries, would be fined up to Rp 5 million
(US$2,173) or jailed up to six months.

"I think the publishers and the recording company owners are
worried about the penalties," Ediyami said earlier this week.

She also said many recording companies were still confused
over whether they should deposit all material on different media,
such as compact discs and laser discs.

"According to the regulation, they have to submit all
recordings they produce as a result of new recording technology,"
Ediyami said.

Printed publications which are subject to the law include
fiction and non-fiction books, reference books, art books,
scientific books, magazines, newspapers, maps, brochures, and
other publications.

Recording companies are obligated to deposit copies of films,
audio tapes, video tapes, video disks, vinyl, diskettes and other
carriers.

Chairman of the book publisher association Rozali Usman told
The Jakarta Post that the association is ready to comply with the
law.

"We never requested that the government, in this case the
National Library, delay the implementation the law," he said in
Bandung.

Dimas Wahab, chairman of the recording company association,
welcomed the postponement because it will give its members time
to prepare. "We support the law, and we'll be ready by that
time," he said. (31)