JAKARTA - Director of LBH Keadilan Nurbayu Susandra asked the government and the DPR to be careful in revising the Copyright Law. According to him, changes to the regulation should not give birth to articles that threaten press freedom, freedom of expression, and legal certainty in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).
Nurbayu highlighted the still weak regulation regarding fair use in the Copyright Law as well as the existence of criminal provisions in Articles 112 to 115 which are considered potentially abused if not accompanied by a clear exception for journalistic activities.
"These criminal articles are indeed in the current law. Concerns arise when the government and the DPR revise the Copyright Law, because the criminal loophole can be misused if it is not accompanied by a clear exception for journalistic activities through fair use arrangements," said Nurbayu in his statement, Monday, July 20.
According to him, the discussion of the revision of the Copyright Law not only concerns the interests of the creative industry and AI developers, but also touches on the protection of the constitutional rights of the public in obtaining information, expressing opinions, and carrying out journalistic activities.
Nurbayu assessed that regulations that are not formulated clearly have the potential to create legal uncertainty for the public. Not only are media companies and copyright holders affected, but also content creators, academics, students, and the public who use other people's works on a limited basis for educational, critical, or reporting purposes.
Similar views have also emerged in various countries. The Australian government in November 2025 decided not to adopt text and data mining (TDM) exceptions in its copyright law and chose to maintain the licensing mechanism.
Meanwhile, the British Government in March 2026 has also not adopted a broad copyright exemption for AI development after receiving a rejection from creative industry players.
In the United States, the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) in a pre-publication report published in May 2025 also stated that the use of copyrighted works for AI training could potentially affect the licensing market and the economic value of works.
Reflecting on this development, Nurbayu assessed that Indonesia needs to prioritize the principle of caution in drafting a revision of the Copyright Law so that it can balance the interests of technological innovation with copyright protection, press freedom, freedom of expression, and legal certainty for all people.
He hopes that the discussion of the revision of the Copyright Law will be carried out openly by involving all stakeholders so that the regulations produced do not create new legal problems later.
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