Many (Indonesian) lawyers/jurists think that intellectual property rights (Dutch: intellectuele eigendomsrechten) are property rights within the scope of the Indonesian Civil Code (Dutch: zakelijke rechten), and I am of the opinion that such perception is completely wrong.
Intellectual property rights are rights on the productions of the soul (English transliteration of rechten op voortbrengselen van de geest) and such rights do not fall within the meaning of property rights (zakelijke rechten).
Article 499 of the Indonesian Civil Code reads:
De wet verstaat door zaken alle goederen en rechten welke het voorwerp van eigendom kunnen zijn.
English transliteration/translation:
The law recognizes all goods and rights that can be the object of property/ownership as things.
This Article means that only goods and rights that can be owned by human beings are considered by the Indonesian Civil Code as property. This is consistent with the old as well as the new Netherlands Civil Code.
There are goods that cannot be the object of property of anyone (Article 519 of the Indonesian Civil Code) and there are things that cannot be object of property, or in other words: there are things that are inalienable, e.g., human rights.
As we have understood it, the legal concept of intellectual property rights was first introduced by the Statute of Anne of 1709, long before the promulgation of the Code Napoleon in France and its empire. However, the legislators never admit intellectual property rights as property rights within the ambit of the Civil Code. This has been discussed in my paper (in the Indonesian language, English version shall follow), titled: Sekuritisasi Hak Cipta, Suatu Gagasan Untuk Pembangunan (English: Securitization of Copyright, an Idea for Development). The paper has been published in the Bulletin of the Indonesian Capital Markets Legal Consultants Association. To get one soft copy of the paper, please contact me.
Why don't intellectual property rights constitute property rights within the ambit of the Civil Code? Find the answer in the other notes.
The IDLO Intellectual Property Resource Person for Indonesia
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