Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Rasa Sayange

Whose song is "Rasa Sayange"? I don't think so that we have legal proof of ownership. Neither we nor Malaysian do. Since we were originated from the same cluster, same family language, that song may be found in each old literatures.

But I'm still not sure which part of Indonesian archipelago this song came from. If it was from western side, then it could be possible to be shared. But if it came from eastern side, then Malaysian cannot easily claim that since there was geographical distance.

Anyway, it is naive to recommend that such folksongs or any folk customs should be legally registered or patented. This is not a material stuff, and even more subtle than, let's say, contemporary song with obvious author.