Press Council Urges Revision of Copyright Law to Protect Journalism from AI

Chairman of the Digital and Sustainability Commission of the Press Council, Dahlan Dahi. (Photo: Tribun Sorong)

JAKARTA - The Press Council hopes that the revision process of Law Number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright will receive full support from all parties. This step is considered crucial to ensure that journalistic products have fair economic rights in the midst of rapid digital disruption and the dominance of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Chairman of the Digital and Sustainability Commission of the Press Council, Dahlan Dahi, revealed that currently many journalistic works are used as the basis for AI algorithms to distribute information without compensation.

"Currently, journalistic works are used as the basis for algorithms to distribute information and news by artificial intelligence without compensation at all," said Dahlan in an online press conference in Jakarta.

Dahlan regretted the condition where journalists had risked their lives and press companies had spent a lot of money to produce news, but technology companies took advantage for free. If left unchecked, this bad trend is considered to threaten the sustainability of quality journalism and the function of verifying information for the public.

Important Points of the Revision of the Copyright Law Related to Journalistic Products

Seeing the urgency, the Ministry of Law is currently formulating a revision of the Copyright Law. The Press Council also continues to maintain intensive communication with the Ministry of Law to formulate protection for journalistic works.

The following are some important points in the proposed revision of the Copyright Law:

Corporate Press Economic Rights: The journalistic work will be emphasized to have economic rights inherent to the press company that produces it. License and Royalty Obligations: The use of journalistic works for commercial purposes - including by technology companies that collect news through AI - must obtain permission and pay royalties. "No More Free Journalism": It applies strictly to commercial use in order to maintain a healthy media ecosystem.

What about Public Rights and Access to Information?

Even though the rules have been tightened, the Press Council guarantees that the public's right to obtain information will not be disturbed. This revision still accommodates the use of journalistic works for free as long as it is not for commercial purposes.

Journalistic works may still be freely accessed for the purposes of:

Social activities Educational needs Scientific research

Maintaining Information Quality in the Era of Generative AI

Dahlan emphasized that the implementation of this royalty was not intended to drive technology out of the news ecosystem. Instead, this rule encourages technology platforms to support the improvement of information quality.

If the press falls, the Generative AI machine is feared to only process information that is filled with misinformation and disinformation from unreliable sources. Therefore, technology platforms actually have a major interest in keeping the press producing quality news.

"Democracy is a system of statehood that we believe is better than all systems. So, this is not about the press alone but it is about the public, it is about the nation and the state," concluded Dahlan.