An Indonesian artist's experience of global online piracy

Small business and individual content owners suffer as much as large ones from piracy especially in the digital age.

Indonesian artist Liffi Wongso found that Chinese businesses had copied and reproduced her artwork, which was originally created for an exclusive Indonesian brand. The copies were of her painting of the Kecombrang flower, and related artworks. Initially, this painting was licensed to a luxury jewellery company in Indonesia and used as the design on packaging of their “The Palace Exclusive Jewellery Box and Tea Cup Set Hampers.” However, later the artworks were seen on mass-produced cups made in China without her authority.

She found her artwork being sold on major global e-commerce platforms like Walmart, Shein, and Shopee. She found it hard to take legal action against perpetrators in China. So Liffi expressed her concerns through a viral TikTok video that got 1.8 million views. Later on an organisation called Justice for Artists found her and then supported her. After nearly six months of legal work focused in the US where the legal system works well against online infringement, in May 2024 she managed to stop some of the copyright infringements. However the stolen works still circulate in China and other countries.

Liffi expressed the hope that her tale will encourages other artists facing similar issues to speak up and seek justice. What does this mean for small artists? They have to be organized in their IP management, use online platform content removal systems, and in Asia, may have to use overseas legal systems to win where their own do not offer a remedy. See her TikTok video here - https://www.tiktok.com/@inilahcom/video/7514222384220622088 -