Should RI celebrate copyright day?

Should RI celebrate copyright day?

By A. Ariobimo Nusantara

JAKARTA (JP): Intellectual property right piracy has so far
not subsided. The Feb. 22, 1999 edition of Publisher's Weekly
reported the 1998 global piracy value was US$12.38 billion, 60
percent higher than $11.69 billion the previous year.

According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance
(IIPA) in its 1998 Annual Review, software application was the
top pirated item among American properties, valued at $4.65
billion, followed by entertainment programs at $3.4 billion.

Among American publishers, copyright piracy has led to losses
of an estimated $685.3 million in 1998, compared to $665.3
million in 1997.

Book piracy has become a major problem in the publishing
sector around the world. It has put pressure on the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to pay attention to the phenomenon.

In 1995 UNESCO proclaimed April 23 as the World Book and
Copyright Day.

This is the date of Shakespeare's birth and the date of birth
or death of other prominent authors such as Cervantes, Vladimir
Nabokov and Garcilaso de la Vega.

The date was chosen to pay a worldwide tribute to books and
authors, encouraging children, young people and adults who do not
read often to enjoy the pleasure of reading, as well as to
increase awareness of protecting intellectual property through
copyrights.

The commemoration also follows tradition in Catalonia where on
April 23 a rose is given as a gift with every book sold. To the
British, the occasion is known as St. George's Day.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance suspects
several countries run illegal book production or book piracy
activities.

In 1998, China recorded foreign publishers suffering losses of
about $125 million, Russia $45 million, Pakistan $40 million, the
Philippines $39 million, Mexico $35 million and India and
Indonesia about $30 million each.

For more than a decade, Indonesia has been one of Asia's
leading centers of unauthorized translations and outright
pirating of English-language textbooks, professionals books and
computer-related books, including cover-to-cover textbook
copying.

There is no evidence of any concerted or effective enforcement
response to book piracy. Estimated losses to U.S. publishers were
$30 million in 1998; the decrease from previous years is due to
adverse market conditions in Indonesia, as the following table
shows.

Estimated trade losses due to piracy

(in millions of U.S. dollars)

and level of piracy: 1995 - 1998

INDUSTRY 1998 1997 1996 1995

Loss Level Loss Level Loss Level Loss Level
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Motion Picture 25.0 90% 19.0 85% 19.0 85% 15.0 98%
Sound Recording/
Musical Compositions 3.0 12% 9.0 12% 12.0 15% 2.0 9%
Computer Programs:
Business Applications 33.2 92% 139.6 93% 170.3 98% 117.3 98%
Computer Programs:
Entertainment Software 81.7 95% 87.2 89% 86.0 82% 82.6 80%
Books 30.0 NA 47.0 NA 47.0 NA 45.0 NA
TOTALS 172.9 301.8 334.3 261.9

Source: http:/www.ipa.com

In Indonesia, book piracy is the tip of the iceberg of all
piracy problems in this country. Local publications also face
piracy. Pirated Indonesian best-sellers include the English-
Indonesian Dictionary by Hassan Shadily and John M. Echols
(Gramedia Pustaka Utama), Wawasan Al Qur'an by Quraish Shihab,
the Indonesian translation of Learn the Language of the Holy
Qur'an by Abdullah Abbas Nadwi and the Indonesian translation of
Quantum Learning by Bobbi De Porter (all published by Mizan,
Bandung).

These products are usually sold at traffic light at, of
course, much lower prices. The Echols' dictionary can be
purchased for Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 compared to the published
price of Rp 65,000 for hardcover and Rp 55,000 for softcover
editions.

Quantum Learning can be obtained for Rp 18,000 compared to the
published price of Rp 31,000.

Commenting on the loss of publishers, Wandi S. Broto, chief
editor of Gramedia Pustaka Utama publisher, said "I estimated
they sold twice the amount of published copies of our dictionary.
Let's say, if some 40,000 to 50,000 published books were sold per
year, the sale of (pirated products) could reach 100,000 copies."

Efforts to fight piracy so far have been futile. The
enterprise is undetected and subtle. How do these people struggle
and continue to exist?

The blame could be put on expensive books and, with the
crisis, increasingly dwindling buying power. Piracy -- even
without the crisis -- cashes in on the lucrative shortcuts of low
production costs and absence of overheads.

Taxes on paper, printing houses, sales and writers remain the
classic part of the problem in the country.

Once there was the idea of airing the identities of book
pirates on television in an attempt to at least reduce book
piracy.

Unfortunately the idea never materialized, reflecting the lack
of public attention to the problem and poor legal enforcement of
the copyright law. Book piracy continues, and it has developed
into a well-managed, widespread network.

Attempts to take suspects, either individuals or institutions,
to court have been disappointing.

Based on the 1982 and 1987 laws on copyright, those proved
guilty of piracy can be sentenced to seven years in jail or fined
Rp 100 million. Distributors can be sent to five years in jail or
fined Rp 50 million.

In reality few have been sent to jail. For example, in
Semarang in 1990, owners of printing companies, identified as GWN
and Y. MGN, were suspected of piracy of the Echols' dictionary.

They were acquitted by a Semarang court in November 1990 even
though the prosecutor demanded four years jail. The reasons for
acquittal were not clear.

Through experience, publishers are pessimistic about law
enforcement. The costs entailed come without a legal guarantee
that justice will be done.

The Mizan publisher once reported the piracy of Wawasan Al
Qur'an to the police.

"It's a never-ending matter, with no result!" Putut Wijanarko,
Mizan's executive director, said.

"We found trucks loaded with Echols' dictionary," Wandi said.
"However, in the end we could not figure out the link to their
publisher. In hours the two trucks had disappeared."

What should publishers do? Gramedia Pustaka Utama, for
example, has resorted to its own tricks. Rather than trying to
sue a suspected party of piracy, particularly concerning a "gold
mine" product like the above dictionary, they printed some color
pages in the publication.

By doing so, pirates would face the risk of more costs in
trying to duplicate the books. Wandi said results of the attempt
were yet to be seen.

Mizan tried a different measure, also yet to prove effective.
They have sent circulars to all bookstores, requesting their
cooperation in selling pirated books.

How big is the piracy network in Indonesia? By the end of
January 1992, the East Java Police succeeded in breaking a piracy
chain in which the agent was arrested and a hoard of pirated
books were confiscated.

The police found some titles from publishers Sarana Panca
Karya, Balai Pustaka, LP3ES, Gramedia, Toha Putra, Gama Press,
Liberty, BPFE and IKIP Malang Publisher.

The average production price of a pirated book was 50 percent
less than the original version. Pirates made a net profit of the
remaining 50 percent, as none is deducted for royalties and
taxes.

Needless to say they will continue to profit as most readers
here are not concerned about intellectual property. If they can
obtain books at a cheaper price, for sure they will buy them, or
copy them from cover to cover whenever possible.

The attitude leads to frustration among those concerned and
inertia in general -- because there is no appreciation for
creativity among continued financial losses. As readers
appreciate "cheap at any cost" material, they appreciate pirating
activities.

Stronger enforcement efforts are clearly needed if Indonesia
is to make any progress in fighting the market of pirated book
materials. Besides more frequent and better targeted raids,
especially against wholesale hubs and major retail outlets,
stronger moral campaigns must be conducted.

Developing a civil society surely means building commitments
to be developed together as a society. One such characteristic is
appreciation of intellectual property rights. This is not only an
issue to be struggled for by publishers, but by the entire
society.

The writer is an editor of Grasindo publishing house, Jakarta.