Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "Roundtable Copyright Discussion" [1988] AboriginalLawB 48; (1988) 1(34) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 7

• Roundtable Copyright Discussion

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Roundtable Copyright Discussion

On 29th September, the AboriginalLB invited a number of Aboriginal artists, playwrights, directors and actors to participate in a roundtable discussion of copyright as it affects Aboriginal art and artists. The discussion was held at Radio Redfern with their help and cooperation. The discussion which ensued is too long for publication in the AboriginalLB, but the following comments have been extracted from the general discussion as illustrative of the issues which are of concern to many of the individuals involved.

Brian Syron, director of ABC TV Aboriginal Unit: Tourists are not coming here to rook at white Australia. For years blacks have been told by white Australians that they've got nothing. Now the tourists are coming along and saying 'Hang on! You're what we come for!. Another thing that bothers me is white playwrights coming in to the performing arts area and writing plays about blacks. Every blackfella's life reads like a feature film. The whites come in and they interpret it.

Vivian Walker, from the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust: In terms of playwrights there's no doubt that Aboriginal people across the board are tired of having European culture speak about them and for them and develop whole psychologies that don't exist. And even if they did exist, what the stuff are you talking about it for? Let us talk about it.

Every time European art wants a shot in the arm they put forward a Picasso who says 'all my life i've been trying to paint like the 'primitives'. Picasso is saying 'I enjoy that art! But it's his own interpretation, he's not actually stealing. He needs a shot in the arm, he needs a bit of a hit from the 'base', and the base is the so-called 'primitive art'.

Lydia Miller, from, the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust: Those artists who rip off Aboriginal art, those plagiarists are thinking 'they're just dots and dashes. I don't know what they mean but they look good, so I'm just going to use them'. It's an entirely different value system operating in an Anglo-Saxon materialistic Westminster system that totally contravenes the Aboriginal value system Because they are essentially colonialist in their mentality, they think you either exploit it r you prostitute it. And if you're not going to make an effort to understand what the culture is about then you effectively are saying its quite alright for you to go about in ignorance.

Lindy Link, from The Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre: The anthropologists who go in aren't doing it to help the Aboriginal people - It's they're doing it for themselves. It's the anthropologists interpretation. I would like these so-called professional people who go to these areas to be carefully screened by Aboriginal people to find out what their purpose is and what questions they're going to ask.

Frank Dooley: I can take you to a house where a white bloke lives who goes up to the centre to see the Papunya people and doesn't go through any agent up there. In his place he'll have a painting as big as a whole wall and he'll say 'I'm thinking about giving them $10 000 for this., He's a guy that's obviously of a lot of money, he's not collecting this stuff for any Koori communities - its for his own use. If he buys stuff for $10 000 what's it really worth in monetary terms?

Leslie Power, from the Arts Law Centre: Holmes a Court has got a fantastic, huge collection of Aboriginal art. Esso...BHP ... CRA. The big corporations are collecting these prestige art collections.

I've got a question I'd like to ask, about when an Aboriginal artist is creating work that has got commercial potential. Sometimes there's a white person who has agreed to act as that person's agent. Sometimes that person's attitude is clearly exploitative, and its a real worry. But sometimes they seem to be offering services like the commercial bargaining and the understanding of the commercial world which the Aboriginal artist is going into. What is your attitude to white people acting as agents on behalf of Aboriginal artists?

Lydia Miller: As a suggestion to come out, when we talk about policing I think that anybody who decides to act as an agent, because they essentially have to constitute some kind of contract with the artist, should be registered with an Aboriginal body so they can be monitored continually. They can also be educated so they can reach the degree that they can take over and fill the position of maintaining their own art. Which is what agents should be doing anyway. If that doesn't happen then I would question the motives of those people in the first place. I think there ought to be a body who are informed of what exactly goes on in those deals.

The Copyright Council has prepare a brief practical outline of copyright for Aboriginal artists. This is available from the AboriginalLB for $1 to cover postage and copying. Send orders to:

The Editors
Aboriginal Law Bulletin Faculty of Law University of NSW
PO Box 1
Kensington NSW 2033