Copyright Law Revision: Google, Press Council, and Industry Call for Balanced Regulation

Copyright illustration (pixabay)

JAKARTA - The discussion of revising the Copyright Law has become the concern of various parties, ranging from technology industry players, the Press Council, to legal aid institutions. They agreed that the revision of the regulation needs to be carefully drafted so as to be able to provide protection for the economic rights of creators and publishers, while maintaining the climate of digital innovation and freedom of expression.

In a written statement, Google expressed its commitment to supporting the copyright law revision process. The global technology company stated that it was ready to engage in dialogue and work with the government in formulating regulations that can accommodate the interests of all stakeholders in a balanced manner.

Google insists that it respects the rights of publishers in managing journalistic works. According to the company, news site owners have full control over whether their content can be displayed on Google Search or used in artificial intelligence (AI) based services.

In addition, Google said it had provided a number of rights management mechanisms, such as Google-Extended, snippet settings, and Content ID on YouTube, which gave content owners greater control over the use of their works.

However, Google also reminded that a regulatory approach that is too restrictive has the potential to cause unintended consequences. The restrictions are considered to reduce the distribution of digital content, limit the flexibility of publishers in building commercial cooperation independently, and disrupt partnerships that have been running with more than 30 media companies in Indonesia through various programs, including Google News Showcase or Featured News.

In line with this, various parties assess that other digital platforms also need to actively participate in the process of drafting the Copyright Law revision. The involvement of all industry players is considered important to identify the potential impact of regulations while ensuring that the rules produced are able to support the sustainability of the national digital ecosystem.

The view on the importance of regulatory balance was also conveyed by the Member of the Press Council and Chairman of the Digital & Sustainability Commission, Dahlan Dahi. He proposed the implementation of a hybrid scheme in the management of economic rights of journalistic works.

Through this model, media companies still have the flexibility to establish business cooperation directly business-to-business or B2B outside the Collective Management Institution (LMK) mechanism.

"The hybrid model has been implemented in a number of countries and is considered capable of providing protection for media economic rights while maintaining industry flexibility," said Dahlan Dahi in his statement, Tuesday, July 14.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of LBH Pers, Mustafa Layong, reminded that the revision of the Copyright Law should not develop into an instrument that actually restricts creativity and freedom of expression in the digital space.

Similar concerns were expressed by the Director of LBH Keadilan, Nurbayu Susandra. According to him, the revision of the Copyright Law and the Broadcasting Bill must ensure that no provisions that have the potential to limit press freedom arise.

He assessed that the regulation regarding copyright restrictions on fair use still needed to be strengthened. In addition, the criminal provisions in Articles 112 to 115 of Law Number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright are considered potentially abused if they are not accompanied by clear exceptions for journalistic activities.

Nurbayu also highlighted the draft Article 50B in the Broadcasting Bill which he said needed to be carefully studied so as not to open up room for restrictions on investigative journalism or the application of multi-interpretable articles.

"These criminal articles are indeed in the current law. Concerns arise when the government and the DPR revise the Copyright Law, because the criminal loophole can be misused if it is not accompanied by a clear exception for journalistic activities through fair use arrangements," said Nurbayu.

Various views show that the revision of the Copyright Law is expected not only to strengthen the protection of the economic rights of creators and publishers, but also to maintain legal certainty, press freedom, and a healthy digital innovation climate. The process of drafting inclusive regulations and involving all stakeholders is considered the key to ensuring that legislative changes can provide long-term benefits for the Indonesian digital ecosystem.