RI under scrutiny on copyrights

RI under scrutiny on copyrights

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has been on the United States'
copyright Watch List for six years due to rampant intellectual
property right violations in the country.

No real action has been taken against Indonesia despite the
huge losses it has inflicted on U.S. industries.

But now Indonesia may be targeted for trade sanctions as the
Washington D.C.-based International Intellectual Property
Alliance (IIPA) has urged the U.S. Trade Representatives to list
Indonesia, along with Turkey and Bulgaria, as a "Priority Foreign
Country for 1995" -- the highest category for intellectual
property right offenders.

IIPA President Eric H. Smith, in the alliance's Feb. 13 report
to the USTR, criticized Indonesia for poor law enforcement,
saying that the country failed to deal adequately with the
rampant problem of book and software piracy.

"The experience of the late 1980s, in which Indonesia
virtually wiped out audio piracy, shows that it can enforce its
law when it wishes to," he said.

He added that market access problems persisted in the country
as well.

The USTR has until April 30 to identify countries targeted for
action under the Super 301 trade law. The law allows Washington
to impose unilateral sanctions on countries which deny protection
for U.S. intellectual property or engage in unfair trade
practices.

Established in 1984, the IIPA is an umbrella of eight trade
associations of industries which rely on copyrights in the United
States. It represents more than 1,500 companies producing and
distributing computers, computer software, motion pictures,
television programs, home videocassettes, music, records, CDs,
audio cassettes, books, publications and journals.

The IIPA said that Bulgaria had exported millions of CDs
produced by the state-owned pirate CD plant, while Turkey refused
to respond to U.S. requests to amend its poor copyright law.

Two countries, Russia and Brazil, were recommended for the
Priority Watch List, which already includes Greece, India, South
Korea, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. Another 17 countries
were recommended for this year's Watch List.

The alliance also put 15 countries in its Special Mention
category for piracy and market access problems.

U.S. copyrighted companies suffered estimated trade losses
totaling US$8.57 billion due to piracy in 43 countries last year.
Copyright violations in China and Russia inflicted losses
amounting to $800 million each, while U.S. losses due to piracy
in Indonesia reached $154 million, according to the IIPA.

Director General of Copyrights, Patent and Trademarks Nico
Kansil acknowledged that violations were widespread in the field
of intellectual property rights.

"You can't compare Indonesia with the United States, which is
an established country. We are different, but we are striving to
improve things," Nico said in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

The government's effort to improve regulation of intellectual
property rights included the appointment of Nico Kansil as the
Director General of Copyrights, Patent and Trademarks at the end
of 1988. Intellectual property rights used to be handled by the
Director General of Law and Legislations.

Nico said he had 389 employees, but should ideally administer
between 500 and 600 employees.

"We need between 75 and 100 patent examiners, but today we
only have 37," he said, adding that there was an average of 3,000
patent applications a year.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Information Technology Industry
Council complained that their member companies are experiencing
inordinate delays in obtaining patents on applications filed in
Indonesia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The council asked the USTR to put Indonesia, Thailand and
India on the Priority Foreign Country List and Malaysia and the
Philippines on the Watch List.

Indonesian patent examiners are not only unqualified and
incompetent, but also corrupt, the council's president, Rhett B.
Dawson, explained in his report to the USTR.

Nico countered, saying his office had gone to great efforts to
improve the skill and professionalism of their patent examiners.
They are now trained by foreign experts and go on field trips to
patent offices in developed countries. A new policy offering
patent examiners more chance to build their careers was also
issued.

He said he did not hesitate to act against examiners who
accepted bribes or lacked discipline. He said several employees
had been punished for various violations. Some of them were
dismissed, he added.

"We also continue to try to improve the awareness of law
enforcers in the field of intellectual property rights," Nico
said.

The Copyright, Patent and Trademark Office has organized
seminars for the heads of district and high courts. Judges are
expected not only to understand the law, but also the consequence
of their decisions on the future of Indonesia's economy, Nico
said.

Indonesia revised its 1982 Copyright Law in 1987 to provide
more legal protection for those who deserve it, and punish
violators more harshly.

The government, however, has been criticized for dragging its
feet implementing the law. Not many people have been tried under
the law, and the few defendants have mostly received light
sentences or have been put on probation.

According to the 1987 Copyright Law, anyone found guilty of a
copyright violation is subject to a maximum seven-year jail term
or a Rp 100 million fine.

The penalty is also stipulated in the 1992 Trademark Law,
which replaced the obsolete 1961 act.

The Surabaya District Court last year made a controversial
decision on the piracy of the 555 brand of cigarettes. The judges
said that the defendant was proven to have hijacked the trademark
but they did not punish him on the grounds that the piracy had
taken place prior to the enactment of the 1992 Trademark Law.
Quoting article 1 (2) of the Criminal Law (KUHP), the judges said
that if any changes stipulated under the new law were to be
enforced, they should be those benefiting the defendant.

The 1961 Trademark Law did not stipulate any criminal
punishment for violators.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono announced Wednesday the
government would step up its campaign against violations of
intellectual property rights, mount raids to curb piracy and give
harsher sentences to the violators.

Moerdiono is the head of a special team established by
President Soeharto in 1986 to deal with problems relating to the
legislations on intellectual property rights.

The team is now working to revise the copyright law, as well
as the 1992 Trademark Law and the 1989 Patent Law, with the help
of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The revisions,
which are scheduled to be completed this year, will be followed
by new laws on industrial designs, integrated circuits and trade
secrets.

The revisions and drafts of the new laws will be in line with
the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights under
the new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which took
effect on Jan. 1, 1995. Indonesia and other developing countries
have five years to adjust to the requirements.

The amended laws will provide not only copyrights for
composers, but also for performers, producers and broadcasters.
This is not covered by the current law. It will also regulate
rental rights for movies.

Proper legislation is required to safeguard intellectual
property rights, but more important is its implementation. Even
though Indonesia still has five years to adjust to GATT
requirements, the government shouldn't wait until 2000 to
adequately enforce the existing laws.