Indonesia Needs To Have A Music Work Data Bank, This Is The Use

The Advocacy Manager of the Indonesian Art Coalition (KSI) Hafez Gumay (left) and musician Lousie Way became speakers in a discussion on copyright of musical works at Senen, Central Jakarta, Saturday night (2/11/2024). (ANTARA/Vinny Shoffa Salma)

JAKARTA - Advocacy Manager from the Indonesian Art Coalition (KSI) Hafez Gumay said that the Indonesian government and related parties need to create a special data system or data bank about a musical work, including data on the creators of the song, so that the distribution of the results (royalti) of the legitimate copyright can be done appropriately.

In a discussion on the copyright of musical works in the Senen area, Central Jakarta, Saturday night, Hafez explained that the distribution system or royalties of all music actors in Indonesia are regulated by the Collective Management Institute (LMK).

Collectively, LMK will protect and manage the economic rights of creators, copyright holders, and/or owners of rights related to a musical work.

Even though Indonesia already has a special institution that regulates the copyright of musical works, in fact there are still many cases of copyright infringement in Indonesia that prevent the songwriters from getting their rights properly.

One of them is because the names of the songwriters are not recorded by LMK and it is difficult to get information about them.

"Royalti is collected indiscriminately, right, as soon as it divides (royalti's musical works), this Collective Management Institute doesn't have data on who gets the percentage," Hafez said as quoted by Antara.

"So, the problem in Indonesia is that the copyright payment has collapsed because it does not necessarily reach the creator," he continued.

From this problem, Hafez assessed that the government needs to create a special data system that displays complete information on a musical work, including the creator or copyright holder of the work.

So far, Indonesia does not yet have a qualified data system that specifically manages musical works from local musicians. Therefore, Hafez suggested that songwriters or musical works could anticipate the problem by registering with the LMK.

When a songwriter has registered and their work with the LMK, the LMK will help them to benefit from copyright in the form of moral rights and economic rights.

Please note that the copyright of a musical work applies throughout the life of the songwriter plus 70 years after the songwriter dies.

"To get the rights (songwriters) that have been collected by LMK, for example, musicians in the 70s whose songs suddenly became popular, and LMK has actually set aside some royalties for them, songwriters need to register," said Hafez.

If the songwriter of a musical work is unknown and no party asks for royalties from the work for two years, then LMK will use the royalties for other purposes. Starting from copyright-related socialization to sharing the results with songwriters or musicians whose royalties are considered too low.

However, if the songwriters of a musical work are known and have been registered at the LMK, they have the right to copyright their work.

When the songwriters of a work have died and their copyright period is still valid, royalties from their copyright will be given to their families, parents, or legitimate siblings.

"If the songwriter has died, then the copyright will be given to his family, parents, siblings, or parties who have been given authority," said Hafez.