Indonesia is preparing one of the boldest copyright reforms in Asia and if the proposed law is passed it could change the relationship between news publishers and Big Tech companies like Google and Meta. After Australia forced Google and Meta to pay news organisations for using their content, Indonesia is reportedly taking a similar route while also adding rules for AI.
According to a Reuters report, the draft copyright bill proposes that Big Tech should compensate news publishers when they aggregate, republish or even show link previews of news content.
More importantly, tech brands like OpenAI, Meta or Anthropic using copyrighted material to train AI models may also have to pay or obtain licences, depending on how the content is used.
This is a major shift as AI companies increasingly rely on publicly available content to train their models.
For news publishers, this is not just about money. Digital platforms have become the biggest gateway to online information, attracting massive advertising revenue while publishers spend massive resources on reporting, editing and fact-checking.
Many media organisations across the world argue that tech companies benefit from journalism without fairly sharing the financial value it creates.
Australia became the first country to address this issue through its News Media Bargaining Code in 2021. The law encouraged commercial agreements between platforms and publishers, resulting in millions of dollars flowing into the news industry.
Indonesia now appears ready to follow a similar path, but with an added focus on AI, making it one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to directly include AI in its copyright law.
The proposed Indonesian law also makes it clear that fully AI-generated content will not receive copyright protection.
Only content created with meaningful human involvement will qualify. It further proposes that AI-generated content should be clearly disclosed and prohibits AI systems from copying a creator’s unique style.
These measures show that governments are now looking beyond traditional copyright disputes and are trying to prepare for the AI era.
Why India Must Act
The move raises an important question for India. Should it also bring similar protections for publishers?
India cannot ignore these developments. The country has one of the world’s largest digital audiences and is home to thousands of news publishers that depend on quality journalism.
At the same time, AI adoption is growing rapidly, with global technology companies expanding their AI products in the Indian market.
Without clear rules, concerns over the unauthorised use of news content for AI training are likely to increase.
Government has already taken steps to regulate digital platforms through laws such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and the Information Technology Rules.
However, there is still no dedicated framework that ensures publishers receive compensation when their content is used by search engines, social media platforms or AI companies.
Indonesia’s copyright bill is still under discussion, but it shows a growing global trend. For India, the debate is no longer about whether these changes are needed, but whether it can afford to wait while other nations move ahead.
