Vendors ready for enactment of Copyright Law

Vendors ready for enactment of Copyright Law

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With Law No. 19/2002 on the protection of copyrights going into
effect on July 29, Jakartans will likely have a more difficult
time purchasing counterfeit goods over the next month as vendors
close up shop to avoid raids.

Most of the vendors in the Mangga Dua shopping complex, center
for pirated goods in the capital, closed their stalls early on
Monday.

"We heard that there will be a raid by the police soon," one
vendor said.

Earlier in the day, however, the shopping center was busy with
people stocking up on pirated compact discs and video compact
discs before Tuesday.

At Ratu Plaza in South Jakarta, almost all of the vendors
selling pirated digital versatile discs (DVDs) closed early on
Monday. The management of the shopping center reportedly struck a
deal with the vendors that they must stop selling counterfeit
products, at least for the next month.

One vendor who stayed open told The Jakarta Post about the
alleged agreement between the vendors and the plaza. "All of the
vendors were warned by the management to close their stalls for
at least a month after the enactment of the law."

Street vendors along Jl. Sabang in Central Jakarta are also
bracing themselves for the new law.

Icang, 35, said he had been forewarned about the new law and
planned to stop selling pirated VCDs and CDs temporarily.

"We'll just wait and see. If the enforcement of the law is,
I'll shut down my business for good. However, if the government
is less than serious, then I can carry on with my business as
usual."

The new law on copyright protection comes into effect on
Tuesday, after more than a year of preparing the public for the
law. The law provides for more severe punishments for copyright
violators. A user of pirated computer software, for example, can
be punished with up to five years in prison or a Rp 500 million
(US$61,000) fine.

The tough new law is seen as necessary to help Indonesia avoid
economic sanctions by the United States for gross violations of
intellectual property rights. Indonesia ranks third behind China
and Vietnam in counterfeiting cases.

The director of copyrights, industrial design, integrated
circuit layout design and trade secrets at the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights, Emawati Junus, said the government was
continuing to focus its efforts on raising public awareness of
the law.

"However, we will deploy a number of civil servant
investigators to keep an eye on counterfeiters. What they will do
is collect sufficient evidence to bring copyright violators to
court," she told the Post.

Asked if the law could not be enforced immediately after it
takes effect on July 29 because of an absence of supporting
regulations, she said: "All of the necessary government
regulations have been prepared and will be issued soon."

She said the justice ministry would work with the business
community and relevant government agencies to combat piracy.

The director general for intellectual property rights at the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Abdul Bari Azed, said that
to enforce the new law the government would establish a team to
draw up policies on intellectual property rights violations.

"The team will also monitor the enforcement of laws on
copyright protection," he said.