Performing arts
Implementation
• T
he Indigenous author who incorporates
traditional ritual knowledge in his or her
dramatic or dance work has a special
obligation to the language group when
exercising the copyright in the work.
• There are special copyright provisions
for commissioned photographs.
Recording dramatic and dance works
• When recording a dramatic or dance work
it is necessary to secure copyright clearance
from the copyright owner. In a performance
work this may include separate copyright
clearances for use of the dramatic work,
the choreography, the musical work and the
artwork. Performers may also share in the
copyright of sound recordings of live
performances made after 2005.
• It is strongly recommended to use written
agreements when licensing dramatic or
dance works for commercial purposes.
• Broadcast and film companies should
provide written agreements for copyright
owners. Indigenous authors should be given
the opportunity to consider contracts and
obtain proper legal advice.
• Recipients of Australia Council grants are
encouraged to seek legal advice on written
contracts for recording.
• Have performers signed clearance forms
if their work is to be recorded at a festival?
• Under the educational statutory licensing
schemes, authors may be entitled to royalties
for use of their works in books and films.
The relevant collecting agencies – APRA,
AMCOS, CAL, Screenrights and Viscopy –
collect and distribute royalties to members.
Copyright infringement
• A person will infringe copyright in a work
if he or she publishes a substantial part
of the work, reproduces a substantial part
of the work in material form, performs
a substantial part of the work in public,
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communicates a substantial part of the
work to the public, or makes an adaptation
of the work without the permission of
copyright owner.
• Statutory exceptions to copyright
infringement include the purposes of
criticism or review, and incidental filming.
• Public performance of a work can include
any performance that is not domestic or
private, even if no fee is charged. So, anyone
intending to perform a work that is protected
by copyright should seek advice to ensure
they are not infringing copyright. Check the
contacts page of this guide for copyright
advice referrals.
Performing arts
Resources
Resources
A number of protocol documents have been
produced in recent years to meet the needs of
particular communities, organisations, industry
and situations. The following are selected as
useful guides for people working in the
performing arts sector:
Bostock L, The Greater Perspective: Protocol
and Guidelines for the Production of Film and
Television on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Communities, Special Broadcasting
Services, 2nd edn, Sydney, 1997.
Byrne A, Garwood A, Moorcroft H and
Barries A, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Protocols for Libraries, Archives and
Information Services, Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Library and Information
Resources Network.
Everett J, Respecting Cultures, Arts Tasmania
Protocols, Arts Tasmania, 2002.
Indigenous Arts Protocol: A Guide,
developed by the Indigenous Arts Reference
Group, NSW Ministry for the Arts, 1998.
Janke T, Doing It Our Way: Contemporary
Indigenous Cultural Expression in New
South Wales, NSW Ministry for the Arts,
Sydney, 2002.
Janke T, Our culture: our future – Report on
Australian Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual
Property Rights, Michael Frankel & Company,
Solicitors, for the Australian Institute of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Commission, Sydney, 1998.
Taking the Time – Museums and Galleries,
Cultural Protocols and Communities,
A Resource Guide, Museums Australia
(Qld), 1998.
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