Australia Pays $20 Million To Buy The Copyright Of Aboriginal Flag, But It's Still Not Public Domain

2022-02-09

The Aboriginal Flag (I think that's a proper name?) has a wikipedia page that's fascinating. While it currently shows the flag, it has an unexpected caption:

The above file's purpose is being discussed and/or is being considered for deletion. See files for discussion to help reach a consensus on what to do.

Of course, this is because the creator of the flag, Harold Thomas, has asserted copyright over the flag, prevented it from appearing in lots of places, and now negotiated with the Australian government for a payment of $20M to allow the government to use it, and it's still not in the public domain. I'm not going to embed an image here, but it's worth describing in its entirety, just so we can marvel again at the fact that it is both copyrighted and that the Austrailian government paid $20M for it:

The top half of the flag is black, the bottom half is red. A yellow circle with a diameter half the height of the flag is at the center.

I'm in the wrong business!

Australia Pays $20 Million To Buy The Copyright Of Aboriginal Flag, But It's Still Not Public Domain