Intellectual property rights and innovation in the ASEAN economic community: Toward legal convergence for the creative industry
Keywords:
Intellectual Property Rights, Legal Convergence, Private Law, ASEAN Economic Community, InnovationAbstract
This paper explores the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) and innovation within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), with a focus on the need for legal convergence in private law. Despite ASEAN’s aspiration to strengthen regional integration and position itself as a hub for creative and digital industries, IPR protection remains uneven across member states. Singapore and Malaysia have established advanced legal frameworks for copyright and related rights, while countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia, and Laos continue to face enforcement challenges. This disparity hampers innovation, limits cross-border collaboration, and reduces investor confidence in the creative economy. The central research question asks: How can legal convergence in intellectual property rights within ASEAN enhance innovation, particularly in the creative industry? Methodologically, this study employs a qualitative legal approach through doctrinal analysis and comparative perspectives, drawing on regulatory developments and case studies from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The recent debate on music royalties in Indonesia, following the enactment of Government Regulation No. 56 of 2021, is examined as a concrete example of the difficulties faced by creators in securing equitable remuneration and the implications for regional harmonization. The key findings indicate that fragmented IPR systems across ASEAN create uncertainty for rights holders and impede innovation-driven growth. Greater harmonization through regional treaties, mutual recognition, and the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation offers a viable pathway to safeguard creative rights and stimulate innovation. This study contributes to the field of private law by demonstrating how convergence in IPR can balance legal diversity with regional integration, ultimately reinforcing the AEC’s capacity to foster sustainable innovation and strengthen the competitiveness of ASEAN’s creative industries.
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