Indonesia Hosts a Global Dialogue on Cross-Border Copyright Royalties in Bali

By Ozan Attas

Photo: WikimediaImages / Pixabay

Indonesia's Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI) hosted the Global Dialogue on Cross-Border Copyright Royalty Governance in the Digital Era in Bali from 7 to 9 October 2026. According to DJKI figures reported by IDN Times, 35 countries took part in person or online, together with two intergovernmental organisations and six collective management and industry organisations, as well as experts and creators. ANTARA reported that collective management organisations from Singapore, Japan and China were among the participants.

The agenda had three themes. Transparency covered what rights holders are told about how their works are used, how royalties are allocated, what is deducted and how cross-border payments are reported. Accountability covered oversight of automated systems, unallocated royalties, audits and dispute resolution. Interoperability covered metadata standards, identifiers for works and rights holders, and the infrastructure needed to exchange data.

Director General Hermansyah Siregar argued that most friction in cross-border royalties comes from information exchange rather than from copyright law itself. Incomplete ownership data, inconsistent metadata and systems that cannot talk to each other make it hard to match a use of a song with the person entitled to be paid. He said many developing markets lack the IT infrastructure to process large volumes of digital usage data.

The organisers stressed that the forum was not a negotiation and would not produce binding rules. ANTARA reported that it was expected to produce a Bali Chair's Summary and a document on possible pathways for voluntary cooperation in areas such as information exchange, capacity building and system interoperability. Indonesia has already put forward a proposal on royalty governance at WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), and DJKI said discussion of it will continue there.

At home, music royalties are governed by Law No. 28 of 2014 on Copyright and Government Regulation No. 56 of 2021, which provides for a song and music database managed by DJKI and a song and music information system (SILM). DJKI said it is developing the database and related systems so they can connect with royalty systems abroad.

For foreign publishers and collecting societies with Indonesian income, the practical point is data. Accurate work identifiers and ownership records are what allow money collected in Indonesia to reach the right rights holder.

Sources

• IDN Times, "DJKI Dorong Tata Kelola Royalti Global yang Transparan dan Akuntabel" (7 October 2026), in Indonesian
• ANTARA News, "Indonesia brings nations together to tackle cross-border royalties" (7 October 2026)
• DJKI, event website, Bali Global Dialogue 2026
• DJKI, "Di Depan 35 Negara, Indonesia Serukan Tata Kelola Royalti Hak Cipta Lintas Negara yang Lebih Transparan", in Indonesian