The Urgency of Written Evidence in Civil Evidence Hearings

According to Yahya Harahap, evidence must be submitted in court to prove the truth of an argument.[9] Therefore, all types of evidence should be submitted in court as much as possible. According to the provisions of civil procedural law, the types of evidence recognized are written evidence, witness evidence, presumptions, confessions, and oaths, as regulated in Article 1866 of the Civil Code and Article 164 HIR/Article 284 RBG.[10] Of these five types of evidence, written evidence is the most commonly prioritized.

As for what is meant by written evidence, in Article 165 HIR, it is defined as an authentic deed/private deed. Sudikno Mertokusumo argues that a deed is a signed letter containing events and intentionally made to be the basis for something.[11] A letter, according to Paton, is documentary evidence.[12] This can be understood because the function of a letter is to capture a legal relationship between the parties which is expressed in words in order to prove the situation in the future. In accordance with the principle in Article 163 HIR/Article 283 RBG, actori incumbit probatio, then the party who alleges something must disclose the evidence, including written evidence. However, regarding this principle, it is difficult to determine who should provide the evidence.[13]

The Use of Book Photocopies as Evidence

Referring to the provisions of the Copyright Law, it actually protects the Creator from potential copyright infringement. Infringement occurs because of actions that should only be carried out by the Creator, but are carried out by other parties who have not obtained permission from the Creator.[14] An example of copyright infringement is quoting part or all of another person's Creation to be included in his own Creation, creating the impression as if he is the Creator. In addition, there is also taking another person's Creation to be reproduced and announced for commercial purposes.[15]

However, not all unauthorized use is called copyright infringement. The Copyright Law has adopted the doctrine fair use into Articles 43 to 45. Regarding the use of books as evidence, this is actually permitted by Article 44 paragraph (1) letter b of the Copyright Law. Although the explanation of the article does not elaborate on what is meant by judicial interests, but with reasonable reasoning, the aspect of proof is also included in judicial interests, namely presenting evidence to the judge regarding the arguments presented.

However, the norm in the article a quo is quite strict, namely fair use must still be included in full. Thus, if the parties do quote books in their pleadings and intend to attach photocopies as evidence, they must clearly include the book quote.

Conclusion

According to Article 40 paragraph (1) of the Copyright Law, books are protected Creations so the use of books must pay attention to the exclusive rights of the Creator. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for parties, in an effort to prove their arguments in the evidentiary agenda, to attach photocopies of books to reinforce that the book quotes in the pleadings are true. Regarding this phenomenon, it is actually permitted by law through Article 44 paragraph (1) letter b of the Copyright Law with the condition that it is mandatory to clearly include the book quote.

Bibliography

[1] Tri Aktrayani, “Implementation of Royalty Payments in Licensing Agreements in Book Publishing”, Jurnal Supremasi Hukum, Volume 5, Nomor 5, 2016, h. 73.

[2] Riduan Syahrani, Civil Procedure Law in the General Court Environment, Kartini Library, Jakarta, 1988, p. 55.

[3] Subekti, Law of Evidence, Pradnya Paramita, Jakara, 1991, p. 7.

[4] Munir Fuady, Theory of the Law of Evidence (Criminal and Civil), Citra Aditya Bakti, Bandung, 2006, p. 45.

[5] Andi Hamzah, Law Dictionary, Ghalia Indonesia, Jakarta, 1999, p. 199.

[6] Hari Sasangka and Lily Rosita, Law of Evidence in Criminal Cases, Mandar Maju, Bandung, 2003, p. 11.

[7] Bambang Waluyo, System of Evidence in Indonesian Courts, Sinar Grafika, Jakarta, 1992, p. 3.

[8] P A F Lamintang, Fundamentals of Indonesian Criminal Law, Citra Aditya Bakti, Bandung, 1997, p. 409.

[9] M Yahya Harahap, Civil Procedure Law, Sinar Grafika, Jakarta, 2006, pp. 539-540.

[10] Wirdjono Prodjodikoro, Principles of Civil Law, Sumur Bandung, Jakarta, 1992, p. 22.

[11] Sudikno Mertokusumo, Indonesian Civil Procedure Law, Liberty, Yogyakarta, 2006, p. 149.

[12] Ibid., p. 141.

[13] Retnowukan Sutantio and Iskandar Oeripkartawniata, Civil Procedure Law in Theory and Practice, Mandar Maju, Bandung, 1995, p. 55.

[14] Agus Sardjono, Copyright in Graphic Design, Yellow Dot Publishing, Jakarta, 2008, p. 51.

[15] Muhammad Abdulkadir, Legal Studies of Economic Intellectual Property Rights, Citra Aditya Bakti, Bandung, 2007, p. 240.