It came to light because Google had to change their Australia Day image:

http://i45.tinypic.com/20panw2.jpg

So triple j covered the Issue on Hack last night.

The thing is that a dude in the NT owns the copyright on the aboriginal flag!

I don't know how to feel about that. He designed it in the early 70's, so he maintains it's his artwork - then he went to court over it in the 90's and won the case. It IS his artwork.

He charges commercial companies to use the art. Google and him couldn't agree on a commercial rate so Google dropped it.

FYI, the Google art was drawn for a competition and was done by an 11yo girl. It's sort of interesting what kind of message that sends to the kid.

Source

why wouldn't u want your s*** seen on google.. sup huge promoting

Yeah read about it, a bit of sillyness really.

Well I think that's just stupid, Google trying to promote Aboroginal culture as part of it's Australia day hoorah and he's being a whiny bitch, surely displaying the flag on Australia day could be considered fair use. I don't really understand or know much about copyright but.

just another aboriginal wanting more handouts.

is the aus flag copyrighted? who owns it?


last edited by ravn0s at 11:38:20 28/Jan/10

Second issue in this Hack podcast:

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/daily/hack_wed_2010_01_27.mp3

Edit: and trog, I still hate Hack for the record.

wow, i never knew any of that. i would've thought that art that becomes 'official' like national anthems or flags would be part of the public domain or whatever (i know nothing about copyright law).

let's say hypothetically that Advance Australia Fair was still under copyright, would that mean that every time they wanted to play it at a sporting event, national event, etc that the copyright holder could potentially charge them for it or even stop them altogether?

I personally don't think that any of the Official Australian Flags should be held as copyright by a private individual.

Its a complicated political issue though I guess.

I reckon it opens a f***ing massive door to anyone that wants to design a new Aboriginal flag!

Also, license it with one of the Creative Commons licenses just to cause a stir. Hehe.

I've known all about this since primary school. Education.

I've known all about this since primary school. Education.

Your school must have had a good NAPLAN score.

I was five years finished with school when Harold Thomas was declared the copyright owner.

I personally don't think that any of the Official Australian Flags should be held as copyright by a private individual.

Its a complicated political issue though I guess.

Agreed. Change the flag!

Agreed. Change the flag!

+1

it's a good drawing by the girl and good on her for trying to promote the aboriginal side of things by including it - shame on the dude for shutting it out but it's still a good image so props to her and a worthy winner

How is a protest flag a symbol of unity?

great! now i can refused based on copyright.

I thought it was an awesome piece of artwork, good on the kid... but WTF is that white thing with the rainbow tail and a duck bill? It looks like some scientist combined a platypus with a duck, then that animal had a baby with the rainbow serpent. WTF is that?!?! The kid is clearly a talented artist, but what the hell is that animal making up the lower case 'g'?!?!?!

If I created a flag which united my people and became a nationally recognised symbol, I would probably want its use to be governed by the same bodies which control the current use of the other national flags.

At any rate, I find the idea of the aboriginal flag to be racist. Before the arrival of Europeans, the indigenous peoples of Australia did not see themselves as being one nation of people. There were hundreds of languages and an abundance of cultural variation... why all of a sudden combine into one group just because one guy is making a cash grab by inventing a symbol which paints you all with the same brush?

I see a Cockatoo with a colourful tail, cant see the duckbill. No-idea why a Cockatoo has a rainbow tail though.

its the incest bird found in remotes (ie all of) Tasmania.

sigh just another stupid gold digger.

he can keep his copyright.

news.com.au link

"It's customary for anybody using it in a commercial situation to (pay) a fee component. It's not about what I wanted. It's about the process.

"The prizes had been issued before I'd been contacted - that put me on the back foot, in a defensive manner.

"They didn't make me an appropriate offer."

He has said he was later offered "a pittance" but would not say how much.

many lols.

I love how abos claim 'sacred' this and 'sacred' that, right up until you offer the right $$$ amount.

Listing to this segment, what an arsehole, the only reason google put up those images is to celebrate a noted event or persons with achivements or great history, and this douche is crying foul on protecting the aboriginal identity from profiteering?

The whole Google thing is a big old example of why a flag like that shouldn't be copyright.

An 11 year old kid all wide eyed and idealistic incorporates some aboriginal symbolism into a design and wins and gets smashed by an argument over money and corporate respect. Oh well I guess it was quite educational for the child.

I appluad google for telling him to shove the flag. The guy obviously lacked the common sense to see the worldwide publicity a and recognition displaying the flag would result in.

An 11 year old kid all wide eyed and idealistic incorporates some aboriginal symbolism into a design and wins and gets smashed by an argument over money and corporate respect. Oh well I guess it was quite educational for the child.

Yeah, would have been awesome for her teacher to explain

Student: Miss, why couldnt I put the aboriginal flag in my picture, I though I was being respectful to our native population and wanted to highlight that on australia day, why did it get taken out?

Teacher: Well you see jenny, people only realy care about respect and things like that until money's involved, then they just want to get payed"

Student: OH, So when people say they wanted to be treated with respect, they just want more money

Teacher: Exactly.

If I was an aboriginal I would actually feel pretty let down about his decision and the fact that he was able to make that decision on his own - which defeats the purpose of a flag which is a symbol for a group of people, not one copyright owner.

The copyright should be held by an Incorprated Body, IMO.

Ideally, no flag that represents a large group should have a copyright.