Top singers testify against piracy

JAKARTA (JP): A famous pop singer testified before the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that royalties from album sales meant a lot to the artist.

"Royalties paid for the medical bills of the belated local singing legend, Broery Marantika, when he was ill. And after his death, the same royalties were a great help to his children," singer Dewi Yull told the court hearing presided over by Judge Sri Endang Murwati.

"Indonesia is a country with no morals because with piracy, Indonesians show they have no respect for their local artists."

Along with local pop legend Titiek Puspa, Dewi gave her testimony as a witness in the trial of defendant Joel Setiawan Tediyanto, 31.

Joel was arrested on May 1 this year in a closed shop on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, Central Jakarta. Police found some 700,000 pirated compact discs (CDs) featuring local pop songs.

Prosecutor Muchidin told the hearing that the defendant had violated Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 44 of the 1997 Copyright Law.

The Article carries a maximum punishment of seven years in jail.

Dewi said that among the seized evidence, there were several pirated CDs containing her songs with the late singer, Broery.

"This is a huge loss for the lyricist, the singer and the producer. Royalties are the lifeline of a singer," she said.

Separately, Titiek Puspa told the court that among the seized evidence, there were CDs of a children's song which she wrote, titled Menabung (To Save), and a religious album with 10 songs, all composed by Lies Hadi.

"This is more of a nonmaterial loss for me, than a material one. It's just degrading for us singers," Titiek said. (ylt)