Jakarta, November 14, 2018
Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance (APMA) has gathered music creators from around the region in Jakarta* to examine the impact of Copyright buyout practice in the creative community. Copyright buyout activity, rather than diminishing, has been on the increase, being unfairly exploited in areas such as digital audiovisual content and games.
Although authors’ exclusive rights are recognized under many and varied International Copyright treaties, creators are at a distinct commercial disadvantage when bargaining with production companies and other powerful industry practitioners.
Copyright buyout practice undermines music creators’ valuable contribution to society and the economy. APMA would like to draw the general public’s attention to this nefarious practice. Such unfair industry practice should be eliminated to guarantee a healthy, and fairly remunerative, future for our creators.
*In Indonesia, “termination right” exists in Section 18 of the Indonesian Copyright Law 28/2014. It stipulates that the copyright goes back to the creator when the copyright transfer agreement reaches a period of 25 years. However, copyright buyout is still rampant in advertising industry. The brand and/or agency usually asserts unfair buyout condition into the agreement. Music creators are unfairly remunerated and may even lose their authorship.