Inspired or Plagiarism: Application of Substantial Similarity in the Protection of Architectural Works towards Renewal of Indonesia’s Copyright Law

Abstract

Indeed, architecture is a work of art that has high value and is economically valuable. An architect who is able to produce architectural works and gets world recognition is certainly not only technically mastered in its manufacture but also someone who has a high taste like an artist. In historical records, from time to time, not a few architectural works have similarities with one another, for example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, similar objects are often found in various countries. Then how to measure whether the work that was born later was the result of independent work and was only inspired or was actually an imitation. Therefore it is necessary to have a measuring instrument to prove it. One of the known measures to prove that an architectural work, is an original copyrighted work, is to use the concept of substantial similarity. Proof of the occurrence of substantial similarity because it is inspired and not a form of plagiarism can be done through an independent creation approach. Independent creation is a proof formula that has been carried out in the United States. Indonesia itself in Law Number 28 of 2014 concerning Copyright has not provided a clear formulation and what qualitative measuring tool is used to determine whether similar architectural works that were born later are inspired works of art or are acts of plagiarism. Therefore, Indonesia needs to technically regulate the act of imitation which is considered to substantively violate the overall form, spatial composition, and design of architectural works through changes and updates to the Copyright Law in the future.