JAKARTA - The discussion of the revision of Law Number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright has again become a spotlight. In addition to discussing the management of music royalties, the revision is also considered necessary to pay attention to its impact on journalistic works and the creative economy sector so as not to create legal uncertainty or new burdens for business actors.
The academic of the University of Putra Indonesia YPTK Padang, Devi Syukri Azhari, assessed that the spirit of revising the Copyright Law to strengthen protection for creators was a positive step. However, he reminded that changes to regulations did not increase compliance costs for companies, digital platforms, MSMEs, and creative industry players.
"First of all, it must be admitted that the intention behind the revision of the Copyright Law is a good thing. Nevertheless, in practice in the field, exclusive rights have the potential to limit the dissemination and modification of works so that the cost of using research, software, or educational materials becomes high. As a result, the innovation of local creative economic actors can be hampered," said Devi, in his statement, Tuesday, June 30.
He reminded that the creative economy sector has a major contribution to the national economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value of Rp. 1,611 trillion in 2024 and absorbing more than 27 million workers in 2025.
On the other hand, the discussion of the revision of the Copyright Law is also inseparable from the issue of music royalty governance. A number of national musicians previously highlighted the transparency of the Collective Management Agency (LMK) and the National Collective Management Agency (LMKN), especially regarding the mechanism for collecting, reporting, auditing, and distributing royalties.
In a public statement regarding the inauguration of the LMKN Commissioner for the period 2025-2028, a group of musicians who are members of the Indonesian Sound Vibration (VISI) and the Indonesian Musicians' Union Federation (FESMI) asked for royalty governance to be carried out more openly. Musician Kunto Aji assessed that the government and the DPR needed to ensure that the royalty distribution system could be understood and trusted by all rights holders before the revision of the Law was carried out.
As a context, the current management of music royalties has been regulated through a number of regulations, including Government Regulation Number 56 of 2021 concerning the Management of Copyright Royalties for Songs and/or Music, the Minister of Law Regulation Number 27 of 2025 as the implementing regulation, and the Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights Number HKI.2.OT.03.01-02 of 2016 regarding the royalty rates for the commercial use of songs and music.
Meanwhile, Hany Mahfuzah from the Indonesian Creative Reproduction Association (PRCI) emphasized that copyright protection needs to be given fairly to all creators, including writers, academics, journalists, publishers, and musicians.
"Copyright protection is an important part of the sustainability of Indonesia's digital creative ecosystem. In principle, the revision of the Copyright Law is an important momentum to strengthen protection for all creators. Musicians are entitled to receive royalties that are appropriate for their works. On the other hand, we agree that journalists and media companies receive fair compensation when their journalistic works are used commercially. However, the revision of regulations must not create new legal uncertainties," said Hany.
According to him, the preparation of new regulations must provide certainty regarding the limits of protection for journalistic works that have the dimension of public interest, including news articles, investigative results, journalistic photos, infographics, and digital news content.
In addition, he reminded that the revision of the Copyright Law should not contain provisions that are too broad or have the potential to become "rubber clauses". Unclear rules are feared to create uncertainty for media companies, digital platforms, business actors, educational institutions, researchers, and the public who use works in accordance with the provisions of exceptions in copyright law.
Until now, the government is still collecting input from various stakeholders, while the draft revision of the Copyright Law has not been opened to the public for wide discussion.
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