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View all search resultsFilmmaker sends legal notice to ministry over copyrights
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I
ndonesian filmmaker Ucu Agustin has sent legal notices to the Education and Culture Ministry, state-owned telecommunications giant PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Telkom) and public broadcaster TVRI over alleged copyright infringements of her documentary Sejauh Kumelangkah (How Far I’ll Go).
On June 25, the film was aired at 9:30 a.m. local time on TVRI as part of Belajar dari Rumah (Study from Home), an educational program that aims to help students who are required to study from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is a collaboration between TVRI and the ministry. Sejauh Kumelangkah was also aired on online streaming platform PT Telkom’s USeeTV. Both broadcasts were said to have been made without any permission from Ucu.
Furthermore, the film had been cut and modified from a total of 34 minutes and 26 seconds to 22 minutes and 58 seconds, which Ucu claimed resulted in the loss of the film’s valuable messages. Numerous translation and subtitle errors were also reported.
Sejauh Kumelangkah centers on the friendship of two visually impaired teenagers who live in the United States and Indonesia. It also touches on access to various public services and education for disabled people.
The film won at IF/Then Southeast Asia 2018, held by US-based nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute and NGO In-Docs. It was named the best short documentary at the 2019 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI). Ucu had signed an exclusive contract with television platform Al Jazeera International with a holdback period of six months.
According to a statement received by The Jakarta Post, the issue began on April 25 when a staff member from the Education and Culture Ministry asked for recommendations of Indonesian movies and documentaries from In-Docs for its Belajar dari Rumah program. The ministry then selected Ucu’s Sejauh Kumelangkah and requested that the film’s high-resolution file to be later submitted to the Film Censorship Board (LSF). In-Docs rejected the request as it was not the owner of the film’s copyright and the ministry had not sent a memorandum of understanding (MoU) draft to Al Jazeera International as required.
Following the broadcast of Sejauh Kumelangkah on TVRI on June 25, In-Docs received a bank transfer of Rp 1.5 million (US$ 101.13) on the day from a personal account.
