LMKN Calls Royalties Unclaimed In 2025 Achieved IDR 27 Billion

Illustration of musical royalties (pixabay)

JAKARTA - Royalties that have not been distributed (unclaimed royalty) to creators or copyright holders are still problems that are highlighted in the governance of song/music royalties.

According to Government Regulation (PP) Number 56 of 2021 concerning the Management of Song and/or Music Copyright Royalties, a songwriter must be registered as a member of the Collective Management Institute (LMK) to be able to claim royalties from his songs.

If for two years, the royalties raised by the National Collective Management Institute (LMKN) do not meet the Creator or holder of Copyright as a member of the LMK, the funds will be included in the reserve funds.

In this case, Ahmad Ali Fahmi as the LMKN Commissioner said, the total unclaimed royalty collected throughout 2025 reached Rp27 billion.

"We have now also managed to collect unclaimed royalty and it is currently recorded at approximately 27 billion," Fahmi said in a RDPU with the Legislative Council of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the Copyright Bill last week.

The non-distributable royalties, said Fahmi, consisted of hundreds of thousands of songs and tens of thousands of Creators.

"Our target is to immediately announce unclaimed royalty along with royalties. Maybe there are Creators who can claim these songs," added Fahmi.

In addition, Melly Goeslaw as a member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives as well as a proposer of the revision of the Copyright Law, highlighted the shortness of the unclaimed royalty 'waiting period'.

"The time limit is also too short for two years before becoming a reserve fund, compared to international standards that are five to ten years," said Melly.

Furthermore, Melly asked LMKN to be more active in finding Creators who have not yet claimed their royalties.

"LMKN must actively find creators using available databases, before funds are considered unclaimed," said Melly.

"Then we must publish an unclaimed royalty list so that the Creator can check and claim his rights independently," he concluded.