What is the Fate of Artists in the Digital Age?

Recently, social media platforms Twitter and Instagram were again enlivened by the polemic of one of the digital artists engaged in Wedha’s Pop Art Potrait (WPAP), Ahmad Nusyirwan with 75 Gallery and its owner, Fendy.
The conflict began when Irwan discovered that his digital artwork had been repainted and sold in 75 Gallery’s online exhibition.
The painting was sold for tens of millions but Irwan as the owner of the work did not get anything.
He also gave a warning to 75 Gallery through a story from his personal Instagram account and provided evidence that the work was protected by copyright.
Irwan’s reprimand of 75 Gallery was unfortunately underestimated by the gallery owner, Fendy.
From the screenshot of the conversation between the two, Fendy argued that the painting was not a form of plagiarism because it was not exactly the same 100% and works with such themes were found and sold in the market.
In fact, after being traced by Irwan, the painter of his digital work, Aprillisyifa, admitted that he did obtain image references through Pinterest and repainted the image on canvas.
This is certainly proof that plagiarism has occurred by Aprillisyifa.
The polemic about plagiarism in the art world is actually not the first time it has happened.
Artists as creators often suffer losses and do not receive legal protection when plagiarized, especially when the conflict occurs in the digital world.
Then, what exactly are the rules regarding copyright in art and how is legal protection for artists in the digital era?
Contract Law will answer it below.  

About Copyright

The development of digital technology today is undeniably a new problem, one of which is in copyright protection for artists whose works are digital and have been uploaded on the internet.
The government itself has actually accommodated legal protection for copyright owners whose creations are digital in Law No. 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright.
In principle, the Copyright Act adheres to the so-called declarative principle in which a person who realizes his creation in real form and announced in advance will obtain rights to his creation.
Copyright as an exclusive right attached to the creator so that the use of someone’s work must be done with the permission of the creator or copyright holder.
Copyright also consists of moral rights and economic rights.
To protect the moral rights of the creator, Article 6 of the Copyright Act states that the creator can have electronic information on copyright.
The intended copyright electronic information includes information about:

1. A Creation, which appears and is electronically attached in connection with the activity of announcing the creation;
2. The creator’s name, alias or pseudonym;
3. Creator as Copyright Holder;
4. The period and conditions of use of the Creation;
5. Number;
6. Information code.

The information belonging to the creator is expressly prohibited to be removed, changed, or damaged. The creator or copyright holder also has the economic right to publish the work, duplication of the work in all its forms, translation of the work, adaptation, arrangement or transformation of the work, distribution of the work or its copies, performance of the work, announcement of the work, communication of the work, and rental of the work.
Any person exercising economic rights must obtain the permission of the creator or copyright holder.
In Irwan’s case, the painter who sells his paintings at 75 Gallery has duplicated Irwan’s creation from digital form to painting on canvas.
If this is done without permission, Aprillisyifa as a painter can be criminally prosecuted as stipulated in Article 113 Paragraph 3 which states that every person who without rights and / or without the permission of the creator or copyright holder violates the economic rights of the creator, namely duplicating the creation in all its forms for commercial use shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of 4 years and / or a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion.