At a time when the public can “innocently” post a live video just for the heck of it rather than monetizing it, it’s best to know that digital piracy is a crime.

An Indonesian woman was arrested by police and charged with livestreaming from her social media account while in a theater watching Me vs Mami, an MNC Pictures movie released last October.

Regardless of the length or the quality of the content aired, without legal consent from the owner, articles of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law) say digital piracy is a crime punishable by up to nine years in prison.

“Still, such crime could decrease the value of the movie itself. We want to disseminate this information to the public, that it is a crime and punishable by the law,” said film producer and director Angga Dwimas Sasongko.

The Association of Indonesian Film Producers (Aprofi), where Angga sits as the head of public policy and advocacy division, recently launched an antipiracy campaign together with film exhibition companies Motion Pictures Association (MPA), Cinema 21, CGV Cinemas and Cinemaxx, as well as the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

The approach used was by screening public service ads on the consequences of becoming a perpetrator or a consumer of pirated content. The first two ads, which will be aired soon at theaters nationwide, were directed by Angga and used the IP content of his production house Visinema Pictures.

“The ads will be our annual program in which every year we will release different videos using the IP owned by the association members. For the first project, we have used Filosofi Kopi as the theme,” Angga said, referring to the company’s production.

The ads will star Filosofi Kopi lead actor Chicco Jerikho, seasoned actor Tio Pakusadewo and young actor Bebeto Leutualy, the cast of Angga’s Cahaya dari Timur: Beta Maluku (Lights from the East: I Am Maluku).

Aprofi chairman Fauzan Zidni said the initiative was only a part of an effort to stop the seemingly never-ending digital piracy. The association and MPA — involved in the antipiracy team under the coordination of Bekraf since last year — had also reported 176 illegal film streaming sites to the law ministry.

You’re being watched: A scene from the movie Me vs Mami, a comedy drama directed by Ody C. Harahap. A woman has been arrested for allegedly livestreaming the film through her social media account.(Courtesy of MNC Pictures)

While the law ministry will oversee the lawsuit against these sites, the Communications and Information Ministry has the authority to block access to the sites.

“The illegal film distribution through these sites inflicted losses to the industry and the creative talents,” he said. “By eliminating the illegal sites, the business of legal streaming sites can grow which is, for film producers, a new business opportunity.”

Aprofi also held field checks at shopping malls in several big cities to find the distribution of pirated DVDs. They found that the sales of pirated film DVDs still existed at 32 out of 100 malls in Jakarta; three out of 10 malls in Bogor, West Java; half of eight malls in Yogyakarta; all four shopping malls in Makassar, South Sulawesi; and 13 out of 14 malls in Surabaya, East Java.   

Bekraf’s deputy chairman for IP rights facilitator and regulation, Ari Juliano Gema, said an orchestrated effort was vital in the antipiracy campaign. “However, complaints about IP right violations should be officially filed with us. We can help in pursuing the case and monitoring the legal process,” he said.

Stephen Jenner, VP Communications of MPA for Asia-Pacific, said the organization supported the initiative to fight piracy. “Each moviegoer has a contribution to determine the future of the Indonesian film industry.”

Theater chains also hold regular checks inside theaters and monitor them through CCTVs.

Film producers in other countries are also in on the effort to nip digital piracy in the bud.

Deep discussion: Babi Buta Yang Ingin Terbang (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly) director Edwin (right) discusses censorship with National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Muhammad Nurkhoiron.(Courtesy of Meiske Taurisia)

A film company in Costa Rica, Romaly, came up with the idea to create a fake site emulating the commonly known portal applying file-sharing technologies such as Torrent where the public can download pirated content.

According to techworm.net, the fake clone site would proceed to play a short trailer of the movie the user tried to download accompanied by a short message explaining how piracy affected the industry. It additionally contains an email address the downloaders can use to get two free theater tickets for the movie they have been trying to download.

Angga said the campaign also aimed at communicating to the public how the appropriate way to appreciate the creative work of a film was by watching it in theaters. “The cinematic experience amplifies the value of the film and in turn us producers can create bigger and phenomenal films. This is how it’s all connected.”