Musician Lawsuit Points On Copyright Law To Constitutional Court, A Total Of 29 Musicians Question This

The points of the musician's lawsuit regarding the copyright law to the Constitutional Court? (Freepic)

YOGYAKARTA - A number of Indonesian musicians submitted judicial reviews of the Copyright Law to the Constitutional Court. This lawsuit emerged after recently there had been a case of dispute over song royalties involving the name Agnez Mo and songwriter Ari Bias. So the points of the musician's lawsuit regarding the copyright law to the Constitutional Court?

A total of 29 musicians who are members of the Indonesian Voice Vibration (VISI) movement submitted a judicial review of Copyright Law No. 28 of 2014. The names of musicians who participated in this submission included Ariel NOAH, Raisa, Bernadya, Armand Maulana, Judika, Bunga Citra Lestari, Tantri Kotak, and others.

Law No. 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright is registered in the application for judicial review No.33/PUU/PAN.MK/AP3/03/2025 since March 7, 2025. Considering this is very important in the music industry in Indonesia, it is interesting to look at the points of the musician's lawsuit regarding the Copyright Law to the Constitutional Court.

This Copyright Law was enacted by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at that time, namely on October 16, 2014. Copyright is defined as the exclusive right of the creator which arises automatically based on declarative principles after a creation is realized in real form, without reducing restrictions in accordance with the provisions of the legislation.

The rights referred to in this law are for creators as owners of Copyright, parties who receive legal rights from the creator, or other parties who receive further rights from those who receive these rights legally.

The law defines copyright as part of intellectual property that has a strategic role in supporting national development and improving people's welfare.

Therefore, the government views it as important to increase protection and provide legal certainty for the creator, holder, and copyright owner.

In response to these needs, the Copyright Law was born which aims to protect various forms of intellectual property, such as literary works, arts, music, films, software, and other original works.

This regulation ensures that intellectual property is not misused without permission or without providing profits to copyright owners.

The provisions in this law stipulate that copyright protection applies as long as the creator, holder and copyright owner are still alive up to 70 years after their death. This rule aims to ensure that the heirs or recipients of the rights still benefit from copyright-protected intellectual works.

Quoting from the case files distributed on the official website of the Constitutional Court, the musicians submitted a judicial review of the five articles in the Copyright Law. Here are the details of the five articles:

"Everyone without the permission of the creator or copyright holder is prohibited from doubling and/or using commercially created."

"Everyone can make commercial use of creation in a show without asking the creator for permission by paying a reward to the creator through a collective management institution."

"Except for other promises, copyright holders or owners of related rights can exercise their own licenses or grant licenses to third parties to carry out their actions as referred to in Article 9 Paragraph 1, Article 23 Paragraph 2, Article 24 Paragraph 2, and Article 25 Paragraph 21."

"To get the economic rights of every creator, copyright holder, concerned rights owner to become a member of a collective management institution in order to attract reasonable rewards from users who take advantage of copyright and related rights in the form of commercial public services."

"Everyone who without rights and / or without the permission of the creator or copyright holder violates the creator's economic rights as referred to in Article 9 Paragraph 1 letter c, letter d, letter f, and / or letter h for commercial use shall be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of 3 years and / or a maximum fine of IDR 500 million. "The five articles were tested by Article 28D paragraph (1) which guarantees recognition, guarantee, protection, and fair legal certainty before the law.

These articles are also tested based on Article 28G paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution which guarantees the right to protection of oneself, family, honor, dignity, and property under a person's rule. This also includes the right to feel safe and protected from threats or actions that violate human rights.

Responding to the lawsuit, the musicians asked the Constitutional Court Panel of Judges to approve an additional explanation of the meaning of the five articles in question to be declared in accordance with the constitution.

In addition, through uploads on the VISI movement's Instagram account, musicians submitted four main points regarding copyright and royalties system in Indonesia, namely:

This application was submitted to overcome misunderstandings related to the music royalties system that still faces various challenges. VISI hopes that material testing of the Copyright Law can clarify the governance of music royalties and provide legal certainty for all players in the music industry in Indonesia.

Those are the points of the musician's lawsuit regarding the copyright law to the Constitutional Court, which is currently being discussed in the community, especially the music industry. Also read the chronology of the Agnez Mo and Ari Bias cases.

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