On 4 March 2024, the Australian Government announced its consultation process on protecting First Nations traditional knowledge and cultural expressions. You can see the announcement here, and more information on the Office for the Arts website here. The development of the legislation is a commitment under the National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, […]
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NAIDOC week through the years has transformed into a celebration and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ achievements, culture and history. Working with over 5,000 members who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to reach out to them and listen to their voice about […]
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Copyright Agency members shine in 2023 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman accolades. Copyright Agency member, Doris Bush Nungarrayi, is the winner of this year’s prestigious Sir John Sulman Prize, for her work Mamunya ngalyananyi (Monster coming). Her painting features Mamus, which she refers to as ‘cheeky ones’. Mamus are ominous and malevolent spirits that can shapeshift, […]
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The Indigenous Art Code’s campaign “Our art is our lifeline” provides information on buying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ethically.
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Known as Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art award, the 2021 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAAs) were announced in an online event on 6 August.
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Dr Terri Janke is a Wuthathi/Meriam woman, and an expert in Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). She started her law firm, Terri Janke and Company over 20 years ago.
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The Australia Council released the latest edition of its Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts.
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The ILF made a splash with its virtual Indigenous Literacy Day celebration, racking up more than 18,000 views since its live premiere.
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One of Australia’s most remote textile-producing art centres has teamed up with a leading lifestyle brand to design a homewares collection.
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A large number of our members have recently received honours at two major awards celebrating Indigenous art: the annual NATSIAA and the inaugural NIFA.
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A Wiradjuri woman living in regional New South Wales, Karla Dickens is known for her provocative reflections on Australian culture, past and present. Awarded the inaugural Copyright Agency Fellowship for a Visual Artist in 2018, she went on to create two large-scale multimedia installations: ‘A Dickensian Circus’ as part of the Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN […]
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The British company, Derek Productions, will pay compensation for using an unauthorised copy of a painting by the Aboriginal artist Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri in the first series of After Life, starring Ricky Gervais, on Netflix earlier this year. The company has also agreed to pay a fee for the use of the Papunya Tula artist’s copyright-protected work […]
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As the NBN continues to be rolled out around Australia, it has provided an opportunity for Indigenous artworks to be displayed in the community. NBN Co’s delivery partner Downer has collaborated with the Copyright Agency to source and license artworks by key Indigenous artists to wrap around the NBN network nodes in Sydney’s Inner West. The aim is […]
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The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund continues to invest in Australia’s arts future, announcing more than $500,000 in grants for the support of 25 projects in the first of two rounds of funding for 2019. Applications for the Cultural Fund’s three Fellowships (each worth $80,000) for two authors and an artist, are open for application until […]
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One of the Copyright Agency’s stakeholders, Australian Book Review has created an Indigenous issue, which is out this month. To celebrate, ABR is providing Creative Licence readers with 100 free annual subscriptions to the digital edition. Catherine Ferrari asked the Editor and CEO of ABR, Peter Rose, about the special issue and the creation of […]
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One of Australia’s most remote art centres, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency in WA, has teamed up with one of the country’s most iconic fashion brands, Gorman, to design a capsule collection that will launch in August. The collaboration is Gorman’s first with Indigenous artists and saw the Copyright Agency negotiate what has been billed as […]
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Joint statement – Indigenous Art Code, Copyright Agency, Arts Law Centre of Australia The Indigenous Art Code, Copyright Agency and the Arts Law Centre of Australia have called for tougher laws to protect against the misrepresentation of fake art in the wake of the Federal Court’s findings against Birubi. The Federal Court found that Birubi […]
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The artworks of four Martumili Arts Centre artists have been licensed and replicated in beautiful metal screens for two remote community medical centres in the Western Desert. The Punmu and Parnngurr Aboriginal Health Clinics in the Western Australian Desert, 1800km from Perth and at least 400km away from their nearest towns, are some of the […]
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The unique Poetry In First Languages (PIFL) program developed by Red Room Poetry has announced it will expand its teaching of poetry in First Nations languages beyond New South Wales and into Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory this year. The program, which is now in its 2nd year, celebrates, shares and […]
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The longlist for the 2019 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, was announced last Thursday in Sydney. Each of the twelve finalists receives $1,000 from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund in recognition and support of their achievement. The longlist contains seven works of fiction and five of non-fiction – including the work of two authors who have […]
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Magabala Books is delighted to partner with the State Government of Western Australia and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund to announce The Daisy Utemorrah Award, a national award open to Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers. The Daisy Utemorrah Award is a new unpublished manuscript award for a work of junior and YA fiction, […]
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This is an edited extract of an interview on ABC Radio National’s The Hub On Art with Karla Dickens, who was recently announced as the inaugural Copyright Agency Visual Artist Fellow for 2018. The interviewer is The Hub on Art’s host, Eddy Ayres. What difference is this $80,000 Fellowship going to make in your work? […]
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In celebration of NAIDOC Week this year, artist and Copyright Agency member, Julie Dowling’s work was projected onto the iconic Digital Tower in Yagan Square, Perth. Screenwest – the State’s premier screen organisation – controls the 45-metre high tower which includes a large circular screen and 14 LED lights columns, inspired by the bulrushes found […]
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After a concerted campaign by the Indigenous Art Code, Arts Law Australia and the Copyright Agency to stop the sale of inauthentic Indigenous art and craft products, the Federal Government announced last week it would set up a $150,000 pilot to test digital codes as a way to label authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products. […]
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Copyright Agency member Yvette Coppersmith has won the 2018 Archibald Prize for her painting Self-portrait, after George Lambert (pictured below). This is the fifth painting Ms Coppersmith has exhibited in the Archibald and was selected from almost 800 entries for the $100,000 award. Of the 57 finalists in this year’s prize, 15 are Copyright Agency members (see […]
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More than 20 Indigenous artists from far north Queensland were trained in new printmaking techniques through a series of workshops run over the past two months. Cairns artist collective Kickarts ran the residential printmaking with support from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, and facilitated by the Lockhart River Arts Indigenous Corporation, Mirndiyan Gununa on Mornington […]
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This year, National NAIDOC Week, from 8 to 15 July, will celebrate the invaluable contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make to the nation under the theme ‘Because of her, we can!’ Ahead of the event, Queensland fashion label Lifewear Australia has launched a NAIDOC clothing range featuring an artwork designed by Copyright […]
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On Tuesday 13 February, the second Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Writers gathering was held at Parliament House, Canberra for the the launch of Library Lover’s Day. Graham Perrett MP and Senator Linda Reynolds were on hand to hear authors, Alison Lester and Aunty Joy Murphy, illustrator Lisa Kennedy and education expert Laureate Professor John Hattie, highlight […]
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As Qantas’ exciting new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down in Alice Springs recently, members of the Copyright Agency’s visual arts licensing team were on the ground to see the outcome of their work with the estate of the artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye. The beautiful artwork adorning the new plane is an adaptation of the late […]
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Magabala Books develops new resources for Reading Australia. Read the story in the Koori Mail.
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Following the successful decades-long campaign for the return of artist Albert Namatjira’s copyright, the Namatjira Legacy Trust has enlisted the Copyright Agency to manage the licensing rights of the renowned artist internationally. The rights now reside with the Namatjira Legacy Trust, which represents the Namatjira family, and was established as part of a long-term project […]
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Copyright Agency’s online educational resource, Reading Australia, has more than doubled its subscriber numbers this year, reaching over 11,000 teachers every month to let them know about a wide range of classroom activities available to help them teach Australian stories to students of all ages. In the four years since its launch, the online resource hub […]
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In October, news emerged that the rights in the work of globally recognised Indigenous watercolourist Albert Namatjira had been returned to the Namatjira family after decades of campaigning. The ABC’s Isabel Dayman reported that the copyright controversy ended, not in a courtroom, but on the phone after the intervention of a high-profile Australian millionaire. Dick […]
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Almost a year on from its launch, the Fake Art Harms Culture campaign has successfully helped bring about an inquiry to more closely examine the impacts of inauthentic Indigenous art, with submissions open now. The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs announced that it will inquire into the growing presence of inauthentic Aboriginal […]
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Three of our members artworks feature on a fleet of 60 cars currently driving through regional and city centres around Australia in celebration of Telstra’s chief sponsorship of the 34th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA). Betty Pumani’s 2016 NATSIAA winning work Antara (pictured below left), Simon Hogan’s painting Lingka (centre), and Beryl Jimmy’s artwork Nyangatja Watarru (right) each feature […]
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What do a taxidermist, an Indigenous writer and a poet have in common? They are the three creators who have just received funding from the Copyright Agency’s Create Career Fund. The Create Career Fund supports mid-to-late career artists and authors by providing grants that allow the time to develop new work. Grants are allocated in $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 […]
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“Mabuiag Island: a remote speck in the sparkling blue of the Torres Strait. Thousands of years of rich history and culture, with just a few hundred people keeping its flame. Now its favourite son is joking in three languages with his grandmother and torturing his son with spontaneous public break-dancing…” So begins the prelude to […]
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Thirty years ago, Aboriginal leaders decided an organisation would be established to protect the rights of traditional storytellers and artists. Since then, Magabala Books has quietly but determinedly built a solid reputation by supporting indigenous writers and illustrators across all genres, with a special focus on nurturing emerging talent. The Copyright Agency has been a long […]
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The Copyright Agency has sponsored an Innovation Award for an artist worth $10,000 at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, held from 13-16 July. The award is one of five being introduced at the Fair for the first time this year. CIAF’s Artistic Director, Janina Harding said the awards have been introduced to reflect the not-for-profit […]
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On Thursday 13 July 2017 Queensland’s Indigenous artists and organisations were recognised among peers at the opening night of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). Included in the prizes awarded for excellence and emerging talent was the inaugural Award for Innovation, a $10,000 prize sponsored by Copyright Agency | Viscopy, which this year went to […]
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The Copyright Agency | Viscopy has appointed a new Indigenous Engagement Manager, Jade Christian, to work with Indigenous artists, particularly in remote areas, to educate them about copyright and their resale royalty rights. She is integral to the implementation of the company’s Reconciliation Action Plan and also works closely with our partner organisations, such as […]
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Everything you need to know about the Productivity Commission’s findings on copyright: Part 2 Since the Productivity Commission’s (PC) final report on Australia’s IP arrangements was released by Government in December, there has been a lot of activity. Here’s a quick summary of what’s happened to date. The report recommends a number of damaging changes to Australian […]
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As Australian students and teachers begin the school year, one of the remotest publishing houses in the world, Magabala Books in Broome (WA) is gearing up to bring new Aboriginal perspectives to primary school classrooms all over the country. With a grant of $33,550 from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, Magabala Books will soon deliver […]
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Viscopy coordinated the permissions and licence agreement with Tjala Arts for the adaption of an original painting onto a double-decker bus for the South Australian Government in celebration of NAIDOC Week. The painting, Seven Sisters, is a creation story (Tjukurpa) that explains the star constellations of Pleiades and Orion for the Anangu people. The artwork was a collaborative painting by […]
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Viscopy in partnership with the Warmun Art Centre recently licensed the artwork of the highly regarded senior artist and elder at Warmun Community, Patrick Mung for Australia Post’s latest series of aerogrammes and international postage paid envelopes. A detail of Mung Mung’s 2011 Gawarre painting is featured on the aerogramme, depicting the Ngarrgooroon Country near […]
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Copyright Agency | Viscopy is working with industry partners on a campaign to highlight the way fake art and crafts is harming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures with an information stand at the major art fairs in Darwin, Cairns and Alice Springs. Fake arts and crafts is not only disrespectful to Aboriginal and Torres […]
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Six years after it began, Australia’s resale royalty scheme has generated more than $4 million for artists, with more than half of those artists living and working in remote and regional Australia. More than 12,800 eligible artworks have been resold, well above predicted expectations for the scheme, returning a 5 per cent royalty to 1200 […]
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The people of Pacific Island nations have thousands of traditional cultural expressions, from tattoo designs to traditional medicines, but many gaps still exist in understanding how copyright can help protect their culture. Copyright Agency | Viscopy’s Indigenous Engagement Manager, Trish Adjei, recently presented to delegates from more than 11 Pacific Island Government organisations, as part […]
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The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has given $132,500 to four Queensland based creative projects and more than $933,000 to projects nationally in its latest grants round. Queensland based initiatives include: $20k to the State Library of Queensland for the Communities of Story project; $12k over two years for the Queensland Poetry Festival to support the […]
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With the first-ever win by an Aboriginal artist – 65-year-old Ben Ward from WA – of the $10,000 John Fries Award last year, the organisers are keen to receive even more entries from Indigenous Australian and New Zealand artists for the 2016 award, which has just opened for entries. Artists need to submit five images of […]
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Drawing inspiration from the Western Aranda people of the Central Australian Desert and their magnificent country, Big hART have developed The Namatjira Project. A diverse arts project that celebrates the life and work of acclaimed watercolour artist, Albert Namatjira. With funding from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the project brought to life the Namatjira Professional Development Program […]
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Bibi Barba’s paintings are deeply personal. So when she discovered her artwork, Desert Flowers, was being used all over carpets, coffee tables and wall panels in a Polish hotel without her permission, she decided to embark on the legal fight of her life. Inspired by her grandmother, Bibi’s artwork has, over time, developed into her […]
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Five members’ artworks were licensed by Viscopy to Murdoch University for use in their Reconciliation Action Plan, including Dalabon Braun Blood from Darren Siwes. Julie Dowling, Darren Siwes and three artists from Mangkaja Arts; Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah, Wakartu Cory Surprise and Dolly Snell feature in the publication and are artworks held in the Murdoch University Art Collection. […]
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Fiji is rich in Indigenous cultural heritage and tradition. Within the past three decades, Fiji’s tourism has grown dramatically, overtaking traditional industries to become its main export sector. While the country depends on tourism for its growth and development, its creators are challenged to keep pace with demands for producing cultural arts products, and at […]
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Applying cultural protocols to the development of contemporary Pacific works was just one of the topics raised in a panel discussion chaired by Viscopy at a two day symposium held at Contemporary Pacific Arts festival last month. The Contemporary Pacific Arts Festival (CPAF) brings together creative practitioners, community elders, students, academics and arts industry professionals […]
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The Copyright Agency and Westpac recently joined forces to build financial literacy within Aboriginal communities in Queensland. Copyright Agency’s Indigenous Engagement Manager, Trish Adjei together with Bruce McQualter and Michelle Bentley from Westpac held a workshop with around 15 Aboriginal artists on Mornington Island, a small community with a population of around 1000, most of whom […]
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By the end of June 2014, the Resale Royalty Scheme had generated 2.4 million dollars from more than 8,900 resales, benefiting more than 910 artists. Artists receiving royalties distributed through the scheme grew in 2013-14 by more than 30 per cent when compared with the previous year. The artists receiving resale royalties are diverse and spread across […]
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists have earned 50% of all royalties generated so far. The majority of Aboriginal artists who receive royalties when their works are resold are located in remote and very remote areas in the Northern Territory, followed by Central Australia (SA and WA). Australia’s resale royalty scheme began in 2010 and […]
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