First Published in Art+law December 2003
Arts Law in the ACT
On 8 October Arts Law was privileged to have His Honour Justice Malcolm Gray of the ACT Supreme Court launch our Legal Advice Night Service (LANS) in the ACT. Arts Law was generously assisted by Gorman House, which not only provided the venue for the launch but also for future LANS appointments. This service provides face to face legal advice for creators and arts organisations. Private legal practitioners from the ACT legal community are generously donating their time to the Arts Law service. At this stage lawyers from Mallesons, Minter Ellison, Phillips Fox, Clayton Utz and Deacons are participating on our pro bono panel.
In addition to the launch, Arts Law Executive Director, Robyn Ayres, and senior lawyer, Christopher Sexton presented 2 seminars, one at the School of Art ANU on copyright, moral rights and contracts for creators, and the other at Gorman House following the launch on current issues in the arts with a focus on public art. We thank the panel participants, Michael Le Grand, sculptor and Head of the Sculpture Workshop at the School of Art ANU and Jane Barney, Public Art Program Manager at Arts ACT for a stimulating discussion. We would also like to thank Merryn Gates of ANU who assisted with the organisation of the event.
Arts Law Week Western Australia
In October, Robyn Ayres and Peter Carstairs spent 5 days in Western Australia presenting Arts Law Week WA. Based out of the Film & Television Institute (FTI) in Fremantle, Robyn and Peter gave a number of lectures to filmmakers, writers and visual artists on copyright, contracts and legal issues affecting Indigenous artists. Robyn also travelled to Bunbury with Jenny Wright to talk with Indigenous artists, while Peter spoke at the Vancouver Arts Centre in Albany. Arts Law Week WA was made possible thanks to a funding grant from the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) for Arts Law to present a week of information seminars in each state over 2003/04. Coming up in 2004 are Arts Law South Australia Week and Arts Law Tasmania Week.
Report on NT Arts Law Week 2003
by Christopher Sexton
I attended the Northern Territory from 10 to 16 October to present a series of lectures and informal discussions on Arts Law related issues to a cross section of the arts community in Darwin and Alice Springs. This circuit was conducted in conjunction with NT Arts, and with the financial support of the Australia Council and Copyright Agency Ltd.
While in Darwin I presented to members and interested parties of ANKAAA, Arts NT, the Clothing Textile Industries Association of the Northern Territory, the Darwin Theatre Company, the NT Writers Centre, the Centre for Learning Research (Faculty of Education, Health & Science) at the Charles Darwin University, and Palmerston City Council.
NT Arts Law Week was officially launched at the Supreme Court of the NT by The Honourable Justice David Angel, followed by a Panel discussion titled “Is Arts Law Alive?” with Professor Ian Buchanan and Stephen Gray, both from the Charles Darwin University, Lenore Dembski, a local Indigenous artist, and myself.
From Darwin I journeyed to Alice Springs where I presented sessions to Desart in Alice Springs, which was attended by managers from a range of Indigenous Art Centres in Central Australia, to a wide range of local writers, visual artists and performers at Witchetty’s Araluen Centre, and to local writers from the Alice Springs branch of the NT Writers Centre.
The impression I was left with was that there is a huge and hungry level of interest in and need for knowledge of intellectual property law, specifically as it impacts on artistic pursuits by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists in the Northern Territory.