Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze the copyright as a special right given to the creator or copyright holder. This special right is often defined as an exclusive right. However, there are also community rights as users of the work. The research approach was conducted to investigate the relation between the exclusive rights owned by the creator and the rights of the user community can conflict with each other, especially in Indonesia having largest population in the world of Muslim adherents. The task of the copyright law maker is to formulate a balance of rights between the two. The formula which approaches the importance of both is the concept of the social function of copyright. The results showed that the exclusive rights of creators and/or copyright holders to prohibit other parties from using works are often an obstacle for people who use works to reach a better level of civilizationuser of creation.The concept that approaches the balance between the interests of the creator and the users of the work is to use the concept of the social function of copyright.

Key words: social function, copyright, creator, Indonesia, Common Law