Ilegal Downloading of Music and Song
The news on this week in media and electronic media has something interesting besides the plane crash of the Sukhoi SSJ 100 case. The news is in the form of several musicians and creators of music and national songs coming to the DPR to convey their aspirations related to the protection of music copyrights and song on the internet which is felt very serious right now. It can even threaten the sustainability of the Indonesian music industry.
Online Music and Songs
As is known, Indonesia as a legal state is actually a country that has had copyright law provisions since the days of the Dutch East Indies. This is proven by Indonesia during the Dutch East Indies era that had a copyright law called Autherwet 1912. Now, copyright law in Indonesia has undergone changes until finally it came to Law number 19 of 2002 concerning Copyright. Law number 19 of 2002 is a form of accommodation for two things. First, accommodation for the ratification of the WIPO Copyrights Treaty and the World Ponogram and Performance Treaty. These conventions are known as Internet Treaties; Second, accommodation for the rapid development of science and technology, such as the development of internet technology, is another factor in changing Indonesian copyright law.
Considering the substance of Law number. 19 of 2002, it is very clear that the Copyright Law was enacted to protect one of the creations of music and songs. Actually, there is something very progressive from the enactment of Law no. 19 of 2002, where copyright protection for music and songs is not only found in the real world (real world), but also covers copyright protection in the virtual world (virtual world). This can be found in one of the provisions that explain the meaning of announcements as regulated in Article 1 of Law no. 19 of 2002 basically the announcement of creations does not only reach in the real world area, but also in the virtual world area.
Therefore, what is requested by musicians and music and song creators on the proposal to block sites that practice illegal downloading of music and songs that are commercial in nature and harm them economically to the DPR is an effort that is legitimate to do in the context of get an optimal and effective copyright protection, although they should also do the legal process within the framework of legal learning.
Lagal Studies
Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia, Totok Widjojo, is stated the total download of illegal songs on one site in Indonesia could reach 6 million times per day. If one download is valued at IDR 1,000, the loss reaches IDR 6 billion per day (indotelko, 2012).
Based on the data, it seems that musicians and music and song creators are starting to look for ways to minimize losses caused by illegal downloading practices. There are two ways that can be taken to minimize these losses, which is through legal or political processes. It seems that in this context what is chosen is the political process. Then the question is, “why is the legal process not carried out by musicians and music and song creators?” Perhaps the answer to this question is not really difficult because the reality of law enforcement in our country still shows a bad face.
However, despite the bad reality of law enforcement, there are things that musicians and music creators should play in encouraging good law enforcement. One of these roles is through legal learning to law enforcement officers and the public by taking legal action on the cases they face. It is true that musicians and songwriters have the notion that handling cases through the legal process is a form of wasting energy and materials, but from a legal perspective, what musicians and songwriters do can have a positive impact on improving law enforcement.
At least, when the case is entered into the legal process, law enforcement officers will be required to be able to resolve the case properly and fairly. The implication of this demand is that law enforcement officers will be encouraged to find out whether scientifically or practically understand this case and understand how to solve it. Realize it or not, law enforcement officers are slowly being pushed to improve their competence and professionalism. In another, if from this legal process a good and quality legal decision can be born, then this can be used as reference material for subsequent law enforcement processes.
Meanwhile, for the society with the adoption of this case through a legal process, they become aware that the act of illegal downloading contains elements of a violation of the law and causes harm to musicians, the government and the community itself.
Wallahualam bis Shawab.
Prof. Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi, S.H., M.Hum.
Director of Intellectual Property Rights Center
Faculty of Law UII Yogyakarta
