Walkabout Boys, (C) photo by Bel Skinner - reproduced with permission
MUSICIANS IN THE BLACK UPDATE
In Balgo in remote north Western Australia, a small group of musicians sit in the exhibition space of Warlayirti Artists Centre discussing the bands they play in, how they make decisions and what they should call themselves. They like the sound of "The Lost Boys" but think there might be another band somewhere in Queensland using that name. Behind them is the new purpose built recording studio built at the art centre in recognition of the emerging Indigenous musical talent in a community better known for its visual artists – including Eubena Nampitjin, Elizabeth Nyumi, Boxer Milner and Helicopter Tjungurrayi.
Balgo's musicians laid down ten tracks in the sound recording studio last year and plan to release a compilation album. They are all agreed on one thing – yes, they do play for fun now but what they really want is for their music to provide them with a career in the music industry and some income! This discussion arises during a "Musicians in the Black" workshop conducted by Arts Law. This workshop program for Indigenous musicians introduces the legal issues relevant to their creative activities and helps them to understand their rights. Such issues include music copyright, being in a band, performers' rights, traditional cultural issues, and dealing with third parties such as managers, venue operators and recording studios.
The Balgo workshop is the third in the workshop series. The first workshop was delivered as part of the WAMi Music Festival in Perth in May this year. Members of up and coming Kimberley band "The Walkabout Boys" attended with their manager. The second workshop was run for students at Abmusic which teaches Certificates II through IV from the Music Industry Training Package in a program especially tailored for Australian indigenous people. Further workshops are planned for the Northern Territory in September as part of Bush Bands Business and Music NT's music conference INTune.
The Chemist, (C) WAM, photo by Lisa Businovski - reproduced by permission
The Musicians in the Black workshops are designed around the story of a hypothetical group of musicians - "The Locals' - who are just starting out. They form a band, go on tour and record their first album. The participants look at the creative process involved in writing songs and lyrics and what that means in terms of song ownership, what they do when the Eagles AFL team want to use one of their songs in an ad campaign but the band can't contact their main songwriter who's disappeared to Darwin with his girlfriend, and what are the issues when the drummer splits. The workshop covers the way in which bands make decisions, the ownership issues when making a sound recording, and the role of collecting societies. The issues and situations confronted by "The Locals" on their journey to musical success are used to illustrate and reinforce basic legal principles and good business practices for musicians.
Arts Law has developed a series of resources to accompany the workshops. New information sheets on Copyright in Music and Lyrics, Moral Rights in Music, Musical Performers' Rights and Music and Cultural Indigenous Intellectual Property are provided to all participants and will shortly be available on the 'Music' page of our new Artists in the Black website.
Arts Law gratefully acknowledges funding support for the Musicians in the Black Workshop program from APRA, PPCA and the Sidney Myer Foundation.
Delwyn Everard is a Senior Solicitor at the Arts Law Centre of Australia
