The Noise Of The Song Royalty At The Restaurant Is Due To The Inequality Of Understanding

Business actors are now worried about playing music in cafes or restaurants due to the issue of paying song royalties, after a commotion arose at the Bali branch of Mie Gacoan.

The issue of royalties has returned to concern after the Bali Regional Police (Polda) appointed the Director of PT Mitra Bali Sukses (MBS) I Gusti Ira Sasih Ayu as the person responsible for playing the song without permission and paying royalties at the Teuku Umar branch of Mie Gacoan outlet, Denpasar, Bali.

The determination of the suspect stems from a public report received by the Bali Police in August last year. The reporter, who is the Collective Management Institute (LMK) of the Indonesian Music License Center (SELMI) as the representative of the rights owner, sent warnings, socialization, and mediation since 2022.

After these efforts failed, LMK SELMI reported alleged violations to the police. In the end, the police named I Gusti Ayu Sasih Ira as a suspect based on strong evidence for alleged violations of royalties for the use of commercial music.

This case has attracted public attention, especially because the issue of royalties in Indonesia has also continued to be disputed in recent years.

Due to royalty issues as well, musicians were divided into two camps. First, Nazril Ilham's camp or popularly known as Ariel Noah who insisted that royalty payments remain through the Collective Management Institute (LMK) in accordance with applicable regulations. Ariel along with dozens of other artists, including Armand Maulana, who is a member of the Indonesian Voice Vibration (VISI), sued Law number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright.

Meanwhile, the second camp, frontman Dewa 19 Ahmad Dhani and guitarist Padi, Piyu, urged that royalty payments be made by Direct License.

Because of the royalty case at Mie Gacoan Bali, now many cafes and restaurants choose not to play songs to accompany customers, including those who have subscribed to music streaming services.

Commissioner of the National Collective Management Institute (LMKN) Ikke Nurjanah explained that the obligation of cafe and restaurant managers to pay royalties for performing rights every year to collective management institutions has been regulated in the Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights No. HKI.2.OT.03.01-02 of 2016.

In this case, the term performing rights is used to mention the right to present song and music works in public places. LMKN will give the license for the screening and appearance of copyrighted songs belonging to the copyright holder to the place manager after the obligation to pay royalties is fulfilled.

Regarding this commotion, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Maulana Yusran spoke up. He admitted, there is a different perception from business actors. Maulana Yusran gave an example of how many business actors feel there is no need to pay royalties after subscribing to digital music services.

"Even though the rules are not like that. This is what all business actors have not understood. The government must clearly carry out its socialization so that there are not many perceptions, which in the end are criminal," said Maulana.

"Yes, actually, when we talk about PHRI, the understanding of friends towards royalties is not the same and many are still deviated from the rules of the game," he continued.

Regarding digital music subscriptions, music curator Dimas Ario Adrianto said that subscribing to this service is the same as buying physical releases whose rights do not automatically include playback in the business room.

When a song or music is played on a customer, it is considered commercial use and it is necessary to pay an announcement license which contains: the right to composition and the right to voice recordings distributed by LMK.

Even natural voice recordings, birds tweets, and others are still referred to as phoneograms because there are musicians, producers, and labels that record and release audio.

"The rights to the cellphones include related rights. So, screenings in public spaces are still mandatory for royalties," said Dimas.

Spotify, one of today's popular music streaming services, says that the songs in it can only be played on a limited and non-commercial basis, even though customers purchase premium packages.

"As outlined in our terms and provisions, Spotify is only intended for personal and non-commercial use," Spotify wrote in terms of a paid premium account.

"This means that Spotify should not be broadcasted or broadcasted publicly from business premises, such as bars, restaurants, schools, shops, salons, dance studios, radio stations, etc.," he continued.

However, Maulana Yusran regretted that LMK chose to take a legal approach which actually created a commotion.

"We also regret that when conducting the socialization, it is more about the socialization carried out by law enforcement officials. Even though the administrative approach can be more effective and does not cause fear," he explained.

The same thing was conveyed by music observer Buddy Ace. He assessed that the main problem of this confusion is not solely at tariffs or systems, but on thoughts and inequality of communication between regulators and the public.

The main problem is the perspective of the community.Mindset. Some are not uniform," said Buddy.

Buddy also criticized the government's approach that tends to be legal rather than educational.

The government, DJKI in particular, admits that it does not have enough energy to socialize. Then who should educate the public? LMKN itself is limited. Their energy to travel around Indonesia cannot reach all provinces," he said.

Buddy hopes that other ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of MSMEs, and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy will take part in the public education process. "Minister of Culture Fadli Zon must go directly to be the spearhead in overcoming this problem," said Buddy again.