LMKN Announces Rp33 Billion Unclaimed Royalty from Millions of Works

JAKARTA - The National Collective Management Institution (LMKN) has again revealed the phenomenon of "icebergs" in the management of music copyright in Indonesia.

In the latest plenary meeting chaired by the Chairman of the LMKN Pencipta, Andi Mulhanan Tombolotutu, and the Chairman of the LMKN Hak Terkait, Marcell Siahaan, the institution officially announced the existence of unclaimed royalty funds of IDR 33,021,150,878.

This figure is not just a statistic, but an accumulation of the economic rights of almost 2 million musical works that have been proven to be played and used in the Indonesian region, but the owners have not been recorded.

The funds come from various sectors, ranging from the use of songs on digital platforms, music concerts (live events), to karaoke businesses during the 2025 period.

Based on official LMKN data, the largest portion of this stagnant fund comes from the category of unclaimed digital non-members of Rp. 19.1 billion. This is a royalty from a digital platform whose data has been identified, but the creator has not registered with the Collective Management Agency (LMK).

In addition, there is an unknown category of Rp5.5 billion which is triggered by the metadata, such as the incoherence of the song title or the name of the creator in the system.

Of the total unclaimed funds, there is a quota for performers of Rp. 5.5 billion and record producers of Rp. 2.5 billion who are still waiting for the rightful owner to appear and make a claim.

On the other hand, for royalties that have identified their owners, LMKN has begun to distribute them. In the live event sector for the period July-December 2025, royalties amounting to IDR 7.7 billion were collected and distributed to 7,838 creators through LMKs such as WAMI, KCI, and RAI.

Meanwhile, the karaoke sector from large networks such as Inul Vizta and Happy Puppy contributed a distribution figure of IDR 1.9 billion for rights holders.

For digital and overseas royalty (overseas), LMKN recorded a fairly massive collection figure, namely Rp. 23.6 billion.

However, LMKN gave a firm note for foreign parties. The distribution of royalties for foreign creators will be temporarily postponed until the obligations of reciprocal agreements and regulatory adjustments in Indonesia are fully met. This step is taken to protect the sovereignty of the national music industry and ensure that legal compliance is maintained.

The phenomenon of Rp33 billion of funds that are not owned is an alarm for independent musicians and songwriters throughout the country. As long as they are not included in the official LMK, then the "treasures" of the works they create will continue to settle without being able to be liquidated.

In addition, based on the rules in Law No. 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright, LMKN has full authority to collect and distribute royalties for the use of copyrighted works in public places.

Songwriters who feel that their work has been used commercially but have not received royalties are advised to immediately register through LMKs under the coordination of LMKN.