The development of digital technology has transformed gold trading and investment activities into online transactions, thereby raising legal issues concerning copyright protection for the ideas, systems, and methods employed in these transactions. This study aims to analyze the legal protection of ideas in online gold trading in Indonesia, the legal rationale for why the online gold trading system implemented by PT Pegadaian (Persero) is not recognized as the work of Arie Indra Manurung, and the judges' legal considerations in Decision Number 40/Pdt.Sus-HKI/Cipta/2022/PN Niaga Jkt.Pst. This study employs a normative juridical method utilizing statutory and case approaches. The legal materials used comprise primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials, which were analyzed qualitatively and juridically. The results indicate that copyright protection arises automatically once a creation is fixed in a tangible form. However, ideas, procedures, systems, methods, concepts, principles, discoveries, and data are excluded from copyright protection. The online gold trading system claimed under “Goldgram” is essentially a system or business method that does not qualify as a copyright-protected work. Consequently, the similarities between “Goldgram” and Pegadaian's Tabungan Emas product do not inherently prove copyright infringement. The judges' considerations were primarily based on the statutory exclusion of systems and methods from copyrightability. Therefore, copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea, system, or business method itself.
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