Ownership
The Use and Abuse of »Ownership:« Indonesia’s Response to the Notion of Authorship
Kun Akaabir
The past two hundred years have seen the subjection of communities in Asia and Africa to Western imperialism. Dutch colonialism in the Dutch East Indies, an archipelago that comprises modern Indonesia, has imposed not only European exploitation, but also its sociopolitical realities and cultural conceptions. This has included the (re-)formulation of Indonesian laws into Western forms. Indonesia’s most recent regulation on copyrights (UU no. 28 tahun 2014 tentang Hak Cipta), which was enacted following the 1994 TRIPS Agree ment, is said to be unable to protect the Indonesian raison d’état. Legislation, which should have been the fundamental expression of national sovereignty and independence, was and remains »colonized« by Western thought. How and to what extent does the issue of authorship matter in Indonesia? Who is involved in the discourse and how is it being debated and utilized? What role do social agencies such as political authorities, religious groups, industrial companies, and civil societies play in this dynamic? Answering these questions, Kun Akaabir will describe how Indonesia, as a postcolonial country, has been engaged in this globalizing Western-inspired notion, and how this engagement, at the same time, is representing an attempt to (re-)construct socio-cultural identities symbolized through the uses of ownership concepts.