Indonesia targets Google, AI platforms with sweeping copyright rewrite: Here’s why

Indonesia is all set to make radical changes to its copyright law including granting intellectual property rights to people who use artificial intelligence to help them generate content, setting a face-off between the government and prominent tech platforms.

Indonesia would become the first country in Southeast Asia to incorporate AI in its copyright law if this is officially passed. At present, governments are grappling with the ramifications of technological advancements for copyright rules, including the use of creative works by humans to train AI models.

Hermansyah Siregar, an official with Indonesia’s Ministry of Law specializing in intellectual property, validated the legitimacy of the draft bill that would mark the first formal recognition of AI in Indonesia’s copyright law.

The bill also requires digital platforms to pay compensation for republishing social media snippets and ultimately using them for AI training. 

This compensation would go to a state-mandated collective system which would allocate funds to news organizations. 

The rules would apply to a diverse range of content including video games, photography, journalism and films.

According to Reuters, AI-assisted works are eligible for copyright only if the work meets human involvement criteria while fully AI-generated works are excluded.

Google said in its statement: “Rigid, overbroad mandates, however, would harm local creators, slow innovation, and leave Indonesia as an international outlier, ultimately discouraging the investment needed to drive its digital future.”

Indonesia’s proposal comes as Southeast Asia’s largest economy landscape pushes for the wider adoption of AI as the government moves to embed AI in pivotal programmes.

It is crucial to note that Indonesia is among 29 countries that signed a pact in Shanghai to establish an intergovernmental body that China says will foster collaboration and global governance of AI.

The prime motive of the European Union AI Act is to clearly label where AI has been used to modify images, video and content though it grants an exemption for certain artistic works.

Nonetheless, AI is not specifically mentioned in the US or Singapore copyright laws, and their copyright protection offices have clarified that protection requires human creative control.