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'We don’t know how rich we are': Bali to copyright heritage objects

Bali is pushing to copyright the province's cultural heritage objects and all such work produced by Balinese artisans and craftsmen against reproduction, especially for commercial sale and distribution.

Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Thu, April 18, 2019

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'We don’t know how rich we are': Bali to copyright heritage objects A Balinese dancer performs during the opening parade of the Bali Arts Festival on June 23, 2018. The island resort of Bali, famed for its vibrant culture and traditions, is pushing to copyright its heritage objects and other creative work against commercial piracy. (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)

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he Bali administration is drafting a regulation to identify and protect the province's cultural assets from piracy.  

“Bali is known for our cultural wealth. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how rich we are, so we need to register our cultural heritage, our assets, and protect them,” said Bali Governor Wayan Koster.

The administration's legal team has prepared a draft Bali gubernatorial regulation to protect all cultural objects and creative work that belong to Balinese communities and individuals.

“We need to protect [cultural work] to prevent anyone else from laying claim to them,” said Koster, adding that many cultural heritage objects and creative work had economic value and could be commercialized.

He said Bali had a bad experience in 2009, when the Pendet dance was featured in an advertisement promoting Malaysia.

In another incident, a business owner took an old jewelry design from Celuk, Sukawati, and reproduced it for mass commercial sale. This led to the collapse of many artisan jewelers in Celuk, which was famed for its traditional jewelry.

“We should manage many [cultural assets], as Bali is known for its culture, including dance, music, paintings, architecture, sports, cuisine and many other things,” said the governor.

The planned regulation obliges the Bali administration to facilitate copyrighting all Balinese heritage objects, as well as provide funding for local artists and craftsmen that produce such objects.

The draft regulation had been finalized and was ready to submit to the Home Minister for approval. “The Law and Human Rights Ministry has also agreed to ease the process of registering copyright,” Koster said. 

Bali province would own the copyright to any heritage objects and creative work whose original creator was unknown.

“If the creator of a creative work has passed away, [the provincial administration] will assist the creator's family with [copyrighting] the work,” he said.

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