Reproduction of Books

For many years, Song Writers in Indonesia have enjoyed protection of their works and receive Royalty which are collected for them by a special organization called Yayasan Karya Cipta Indonesia(YKCI) since 1990. But unfortunately, we still have no organization which provide similar services for Book Writers, although in is evident that Pirate Books are circulating around us.

Considering this fact, on Thursday, 13 November 2008, the Indonesian Publishers Union (IKAPI) together with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organization have declared the establishment of an Indonesian Reproduction Organization in the form of Yayasan Cipta Buku Indonesia.
In this connection, Kompas has quoted the Chairman of IKAPI Setia Dharma Madjid as saying that the objective of the new organization is to protect the rights of the Writers and Publishers of Books, and to enhance Copyright awareness as well as to manage Copyright of Books. He said that the problem currently faced by Book Writers are Book Piracy and multification of Books through Photocopy in higher educational institutions. He explained that in Singapore such organization collect Royalty for Reproduction Rights from institutions which made the photocopies and channel them to their rightful Writers and the Publishers who are members of the organization.
According to the Marketing Manager of Salemba Publishing i.e. Sudarno, Book Piracy caused the decrease of 50 to 70& in sales revenue, consequently the Writers' Royalty would also decrease.
Meanwhile, Asia Pacific consultant of WIPO Chandra Darusman said that appreciation for writers in our country is still very low. Chandra, who is the former Secretary General of YKCI, gave an example that for a period of 10 years YKCI was only able to collect Rp 10.000.000.000,-

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Reproduction Rights Organization has a very important role to protect the rights of Book Writers and Publishers in our country who are often unaware or do not really care about Copyright. Besides, such organization would help the collection and distribution of royalty to their rightful owners.

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