The Legal Status of Virtual Property Ownership in Online Games: A Review of Article 499 of the Indonesian Civil Code and the Concept of maal in Islamic Law

Abstract

Technological development has given rise to virtual property in online games such as accounts, characters, and in-game currency that possesses economic value and is widely traded, thereby raising questions as to its legal status under positive civil law and Islamic economic law. This normative study analyzes the ownership status of virtual assets by reference to Article 499 of the Indonesian Civil Code (KUHPerdata) concerning the definition of an object (zaak) and the concept of  maal in Islamic law, employing a statute approach and a conceptual approach to primary and secondary legal materials, analyzed descriptively and qualitatively. The findings show that virtual assets can be classified as intangible objects under Article 499 of the Civil Code, although this classification is constrained by the rigidity of the gesloten (closed) system and by the dominance of End User License Agreement (EULA) clauses that reduce user rights to a mere revocable license. From a Shari'ah perspective, these assets satisfy the requirements of  maal; however, their ownership is more accurately understood as milk naqis (imperfect ownership limited to usufruct) rather than milk tam (perfect ownership), thereby offering a more precise framework than the binary approach found in civil law. In conclusion, there exists a philosophical convergence between positive law and Shari'ah in recognizing virtual property as a legitimate object of ownership, and the study recommends the enactment of specific technical regulations to guarantee legal certainty in digital transactions.