Jakarta, IO – The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Kuala Lumpur continues to trace the whereabouts of the uploader of the song Hello Kuala Lumpur who is suspected of plagiarizing Indonesia’s patriotic song Halo-Halo Bandung. As a result, the account was found to be managed from India, per CNNIndonesia, Wednesday (13/9).
Lagu Kanak TV, a Malay-language YouTube account, became viral after being accused of plagiarizing Indonesian song Halo-Halo Bandung. Hermono said the Indonesian Embassy is still investigating who the owner of the account is.
Separately, Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbud Ristek) also responded to the broadcast uploaded on May 27, 2020.
Hilmar Farid, Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology, said he has contacted YouTube to immediately take it down if they found substantial similarities between the two songs. He also stated that he was ready to file a lawsuit if the case was proven.
The lyrics of the original song written by Ismail Marzuki was only slightly changed.
According to Law 28/2014 article 58, the song writer still has the copyright up to 70 years. Since he died on May 25, 1958, this means the copyright protection will last until January 1, 2029. (un)