Indigenous communal moral rights (ICMR) II

Arts Law has continued its advocacy on the Copyright Amendment (Indigenous Communal Moral Rights) Bill (Bill). In 2004 Arts Law made submissions to Government to make amendments to the Bill because of its reservations about the effectiveness of the proposed legislation. The extent of the Government’s consultations with Indigenous artists and communities is not known.

In March 2006, Arts Law received a letter from the federal Attorney General, Mr Phillip Ruddock, confirming the Government’s commitment to introduce into Parliament a new version of the Bill. Mr Ruddock stated the Government would not engage in further consultation prior to introducing the Bill. Arts Law has no information as to whether any of its concerns have been addressed.