E-commerce in Indonesia – Intellectual Property

Based on Indonesian laws and regulations, a website shall be regarded as an intellectual property of the system provider that has gathered the electronic information and documents to establish the website. In theory, a website owner has no IP rights over the content displayed by another provider. If one intends to insert a link to access a third-party's website, then permission from the operator of such website is advisable even if the content of such a third-party's website does not contain materials that may violate the applicable laws and regulations.

Third-Party Content

In practice, many website owners use content owned by other website owners without permission. As long as the relevant content is used for lawful purposes, the potential consequence would only be civil in nature. However, if the content has indications of, for example, gambling activities, then it could be subject to criminal sanctions.

Liability and Links to Third-Party Websites

If links to third-party websites are displayed, then the relevant owner of the website would automatically be liable for the content of such third-party website. The owner of the website will not be liable if there is an agreement among the website owners that contains a provision that the original website owner shall be liable for any transmission of the content used on its website.

Video Content

Video content accessible through a website is regulated under the same regime as other forms of electronic information or document, since the definition of electronic information or document in Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (the ITE Law) is very broad. As such, there is no special treatment or exemption for video content that is available online and publicly accessible.

IP Rights Enforcement and Remedies

With the issuance of Ministry of Communication and Information (MOCI) Regulation No. 7 of 2016 on the Administration of the Investigation and Prosecution of Criminal Acts in the Field of Information Technology and Electronic Transactions (MOCI Reg 7/2016), the relevant authorities are only able to carry out dawn raids and conduct an arrest if the actions are considered as criminal activities under the electronic information technology regime. As for intellectual property infringement, the most aggressive sanction that can be imposed is the suspension of the provider\'s website for a certain period of time.

This first appeared in the Lexology GTDT e-Commerce 2021 global guide. 

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