You see them driving from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs, the majestic ghost white river gums depicted so faithfully in the paintings of Albert Namatjira. You would think you were looking at a Namatjira painting. And then there is the vista of the craggy hills of the West McDonnell Ranges in their mysterious blue hue – a signature feature of Namatjira’s art.
My journey into Aboriginal Australia started almost by complete accident.
I was completing my reading period for the Victorian Bar, having made the transition from solicitor to barrister, and had no idea how or if I was going to get any work. By chance, I heard a radio program on the ABC AM morning show about the need for new laws to protect Aboriginal artworks from unauthorised reproduction.
A key starting point in managing IP disputes is an understanding of the scope and limitations of IP protection – having regard to the available term of a right, the ambit of any monopoly and the defences which might be available.
A brief survey of some recent IP cases shows the breadth of the range of IP disputes and the way in which Courts are dealing with contemporary rights management issues.
Illustration, Nigel Buchanan
The idea of solicitors retaining barristers to argue their clients’ cases might initially at least seem perverse. However there are a number of practical reasons for doing this.
If developments in relation to music and the Internet are any guide, writers and publishers will increasingly be addressing the opportunities for self-management on the Internet. For writers, there is a well-established path for sharing copyright works without charge.
Originally published in May 2011 edition of the Australian Book Review.
The Aboriginal flag – which in 1995 was proclaimed as a national flag under the commonwealth Flags Act – was not the product of a competition or commission.
It was created as a flag of protest in the early 1970s, but, not being subject to ‘‘crown copyright’’, is protected as a copyright work that ironically is privately owned.
John Bulun Bulun is an Aboriginal artist who lives in the area of Maningrida, an Aboriginal township about 600 kms. east of Darwin in central Arnhem land.
When I first met him in 1988, he lived in an outstation, known as Garmedi,with a population of about 20 people. Bulun Bulun was one of a group of three highly successful bark painters living at the outstation, with the other artists being Jack Wun Wun and his son Michael. These artists painted on bark, using traditional ochres (applying the ochres mixed with water using both traditional and Western brushes). They would also use glue to give a sheen to the surface of the bark on which they were painting. Their work was often very elaborate, combining complex tribal imagery with detailed cross-hatching.
I stumbled into the Aboriginal world completely by chance. I was completing the three month reading course to become a barrister in 1988, during which time I was not permitted by the bar rules to take any work. I was at the time blessed with a three-year-old child and another baby due shortly. I had no idea how I was going to get my first brief. Desperation turned to invention.
An ABC radio current affairs program ran an item on Aboriginal demands for a law to protect the copyright in their artistic works. They were complaining about unauthorised reproduction on T-shirts of important artworks. I readily interpreted a solution under conventional copyright principles. To a lawyer trained in copyright, it was obvious enough. I rang the ABC, and spoke with the program’s producer. “Sorry to bother you,” I said. “But I just heard your program, and while I don’t usually ring with my comments and thoughts . . . No new law is required. Copyright will do.”
IN THE TEACHING of copyright, it is usually said that copyright is an economic right. In Arnhem Land, they think otherwise. In 1990, I attended a meeting of Aboriginal artists in Maningrida. These artists had been involved in a copyright infringement case concerning the unauthorised reproduction of works of art on T-shirts. The case had settled, and the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the division of the spoils. The case involved a number of artists and different infringements by the same infringer.
There has been a proliferation of litigation in recent years involving claims of copyright in Aboriginal artworks. This article gives an overview of this litigation and comments on some of the key issues arising out of the cases. It is observed that Aboriginal artists have been vigilant protectors of their copyright rights, and that whilst protection under the Copyright Act 1968 has addressed a number of practical concerns of Aboriginal artists, there is still some way to go before the law meets the genuine concerns of Aboriginal communities for appropriate protection for Aboriginal artistic and cultural rights.