‘Dangdut King’ reports rampant piracy to police

The king of dangdut, Rhoma Irama, led a delegation of musicians and recording industry executives to the East Java Police to champion the fight against piracy on Wednesday.

Rhoma was joined by members of Indonesia Malay Musicians Association (PAMMI) and Indonesia Recording Companies Association (APRI) who have reported piracy and copyright violations.

“We are coming today to support the East Java Police in the fight against rampant piracy in the province in line with a report filed by the APRI,” Rhoma said as quoted by Antara.

“Piracy has caused Indonesian losses in foreign exchange worth Rp 12 trillion [US$1.31 billion] in one year. In the United States, art is the biggest contributor to the country’s non-oil and gas foreign reserves,” he said, without further elaborating.

Rhoma said pirated products accounted for up to 90 percent of the total recordings circulating in East Java.

East Java Police special investigations directorate deputy chief Sr. Comr. Adj. Sahadiantono said the police had confiscated 30,000 pirated CDs and DVDs during a number of recent raids in Malang, Jember, Banyuwangi and Lumajang.

“We have arrested 12 suspects, accordingly, all of whom are distributors. We are pursuing the producer,” Sahadiantono said.