Court Hearing of Agnez Mo's Lawsuit Regarding Copyright, Ari Bias's Side Presents Evidence in the Form of Video

Kapanlagi.com - The copyright lawsuit hearing between Ari Bias and Agnez Mo was held again at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday (9/12/2024). In this session, the plaintiff, Ari Bias, presented two witnesses to provide testimony.

The two witnesses are Johnny Maukar, Commissioner of the National Collective Management Institution (LMKN), and Agus Sardjono, a law lecturer from the University of Indonesia who is an expert in Intellectual Property Rights (HAKI).

Ari Bias's legal counsel, Minola Sebayang, stated that the essence of this hearing is to highlight the use of the song "Bilang Saja" in Agnez Mo's concert. According to Minola, until now, the song has been performed without an official license or royalty payment.

"So, according to the regulations, if there is no license, no payment, it means it is legally flawed or said to violate legal rules," said Minola after the hearing at the East Jakarta District Court on Monday (9/12/2024).

1. Singers Are Also Responsible for Copyright Issues

According to Minola, as stated by witness Agus Sardjono, the responsibility for copyright infringement does not only lie with the event organizer (EO). The singer who performs the work also has legal responsibility.

"According to Prof. Agus as the expert witness we presented, the responsibility is not only on the EO, the singer is also responsible because they are the ones performing and using the copyrighted work," he said.

Minola explained that during the cease and desist process, the organizers of the Agnez Mo concert claimed that all matters related to permits and royalties had been handed over to Agnez Mo's team. This statement became the basis for Ari Bias's legal team to demand that Agnez Mo be held accountable.

"So that is what we emphasized earlier, and from the witness's statement, it seems that the obligation is being placed solely on Agnez Mo. Because during the cease and desist stage, the organizers came and said that in their agreement, all obligations related to the request for permits and payment of royalties had been handed over to Agnez Mo's team," he said.

2. Video Evidence

In the trial, Ari Bias's legal team also presented evidence in the form of two videos on a flash drive. The first video shows Agnez Mo singing the song "Bilang Saja" at three different concerts. The second video displays the communication that Ari Bias's team had with LMKN regarding licenses and royalties. From the communication, it was revealed that no license or royalties were paid for the song.

"The first flash drive proves that indeed in those three concerts Agnez sang the song 'Bilang Saja'. The second is that we have written a letter, communicated with LMKN to ask if there are any licenses, royalties paid, and it turns out there are none. Today we all know that there has been no license at all for Agnez Mo's performance," explained Minola.

3. Rebuttal of Claims from Agnez Mo

Agnez Mo's party argues that the responsibility for paying royalties lies with the concert organizers. However, Minola refutes this claim. According to him, the Copyright Law does not specifically regulate who is responsible for obtaining permission, so all parties involved still have legal obligations.

"From Agnez's side, they just want the party responsible for paying royalties to be the organizers, whereas the law does not specify who needs to request permission," he concluded.

(kpl/far/ums)