Govt still tweaking Finas Act for social media after last year's licence fiasco

 

In July last year, Malaysians got a rude awakening when they learnt that filming themselves playing with cats was technically illegal.

This was after Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (above) told Parliament that all filming, including for personal social media, required a licence from the National Film Development Corporation (Finas). 

After heavy backlash online, Saifuddin later clarified that Finas Act would not be used against social media users - which he has now said is a promise kept.

"We have kept our promise that we are not going after people in that sense," he said in an interview on Wednesday marking one year of Perikatan Nasional in power.

The minister said efforts to amend the Finas Act to take into account the advent of social media are still underway, and that various meetings and consultations have been held. 

"Basically, it's not about controlling. It's really about facilitation.

"That's the spirit in amending the Finas Act," Saifuddin said, without sharing further details.

The Finas Act defines films as recordings of any material.

According to Finas' website, to qualify for a film or video production licence, one must have a registered company (sendirian berhad), with RM50,000 paid-up capital.

Meanwhile, Saifuddin said the government is also looking to enact laws to govern the music industry.

"Really again, it is to facilitate and protect the music industry," he said.

This, the minister said, is to help streamline issues such as intellectual property rights for musicians.

Intellectual property rights are currently overseen by MyIPO, an agency under the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. - Mkini