JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) will investigate the report of the Public Guard of Song Creators (Garputala) regarding the freezing of royalty money by the National Collective Management Agency (LMKN). Verification and analysis will be carried out.
Garputala, which consists of dozens of songwriters, is known to have reported the freezing of royalties amounting to Rp. 14 billion to the KPK on Tuesday, January 6.
"In general, every complaint report received by the KPK will be verified for the validity of the information and information provided by the reporter," said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo to reporters in a written statement, Thursday, January 8.
"Then an investigation and analysis will be carried out, to see whether there is a suspected criminal act of corruption and whether it is the authority of the KPK or not," he continued.
Even so, the follow-up to this report will not be made public. Budi said only the reporter received periodic notifications.
"The update on the follow-up can only be conveyed to the reporter. This is also a form of accountability," he said.
Budi said this mechanism is intended to maintain the security of the whistleblower. Everything is in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOP) at the KPK.
"In terms of reporting complaints, the KPK also closes the identity of the reporter as an effort to maintain secrecy and security. At the same time, maintain the confidentiality of the substance of the material of the complaint."
As previously reported, the Public Guard of Song Creators (Garputala) visited the Red and White KPK building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta on Tuesday, January 6. They brought evidence related to the blockage of the flow of royalty funds worth Rp. 14 billion which should have been in the pockets of songwriters since the end of 2025.
Garputala representative, Ali Akbar, explained that the root of the problem started from the digital royalty collection mechanism carried out by Wahana Musik Indonesia (WAMI).
As an LMK that has a digital infrastructure system, WAMI collects royalties to be distributed to other LMKs, such as KCI (Indonesian Creative Works) or RAI (Indonesian Award Royalties). However, the flow of funds stopped in the middle of the road.
"WAMI collects other LMKs that can't collect (digitally). Well, they (other LMKs) don't accept money, they ask. The LMKs will definitely ask, for example, like KCI or RAI will ask WAMI, 'Eh, when are you going to come?' That's it. Then answered, 'Loh, I didn't bring the money, at LMKN, because it was taken by LMKN'. Yeah, it's definitely a riot," said Ali Akbar at that time.
The suspicion is further strengthened by the claim regarding the request for 'fees' or service fees by the LMKN accompanied by administrative pressure.
Ali Akbar revealed that there was an element of coercion in the collection of the Rp. 14 billion fund. According to him, if the funds were not handed over, LMKN threatened to freeze the operational permit of the LMK concerned.
"Fee. The term is fee, he has to ask for it. If you don't give it, even the LMK will be frozen. Well, there is a threat. So ask for Rp. 14 billion with a threat. If WAMI does not want to surrender, does not want to give it, then the operation will be frozen," explained Ali.
"And it has indeed been frozen until today, even though the money has been given. So WAMI gave because it was pressured. But until today it is still frozen. Why is it frozen? Because he wants to seize the system used by WAMI. WAMI's system to connect with the digital platform is to be seized," he added.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
