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Filmmaker sends legal notice to ministry over copyrights
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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.
The ministry, TVRI and PT Telkom allegedly violated articles 5, 9 and 113 of Law No. 28/2014 on copyrights; and articles 7 and 52 of Law No. 14/2008 on public information disclosure.
Ucu and her attorney team from Amar Law Firm urged the ministry, TVRI and PT Telkom to issue a public apology. They also demanded that the ministry disclose the budget of the Belajar dari Rumah program to the public, make the program more inclusive and hold a public campaign about copyrights. TVRI and PT Telkom were urged to produce and air educational segments about copyrights for 30 days with a duration of at least 30 seconds for each show.
For the film’s compensation, the ministry, TVRI and PT Telkom were asked to pay US$80,000, which includes indebted production costs and costs that would potentially be requested by Al Jazeera International if the platform were to report Ucu over contract violations.
Separately, a representative of the ministry told the Post that they had tried to find a solution, including “mediating and facilitating” Ucu’s and her attorneys’ requests in August.
The ministry also expressed hope that the situation could proceed in a manner that would not hinder their efforts to provide educational and cultural programs to the public amid the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the ministry announced a clarification regarding the issue.
It said that since the beginning of its collaboration with TVRI that it would not allow cultural programs and Indonesian films with exclusive rights to air on the Belajar dari Rumah program because of limited broadcasting rights and copyright issues.
The ministry claimed that it had not been informed about the exclusive contract between Al Jazeera International and Ucu.
On July 6, the ministry sent an official apology and assisted in the process of removing Sejauh Kumelangkah from USeeTV. On Aug. 10 and 18, the ministry was present in mediations with Ucu’s legal team.
Hilmar Farid, the general director of culture for the ministry, said in a statement that the Belajar dari Rumah program on TVRI was not commercialized and the ministry did not make any economic profit whatsoever from the broadcast.
"With Belajar dari Rumah, we were helping to find solutions for the education sector amid the pandemic by collaborating with filmmakers. We honor the laws and hope the matter will be solved soon," Hilmar said. (wir/wng)
