Guess Who Designed the Aboriginal Flag? By James Reed

     What! A white man owns the Aboriginal flag! Who would have thought that? And, given that, what does he get up to? Anything interesting? Any hobbies?
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8641665/Aboriginal-Flag-copyright-licensees-pair-WHITE-business-owners.html?ito=push-notification&ci=28844&si=12817605

“A white man who stopped the AFL using the Aboriginal Flag in the code's Indigenous Round was once fined $2 million for selling 'authentic' didgeridoos and boomerangs - that were actually made in Indonesia. A picture shows Ben Wooster and business partner Semele Moore smiling happily with the flag's original designer Harold Thomas after their company, WAM Clothing, was given copyright license to the iconic symbol in 2018. Mr Thomas designed the famous flag in 1971 - and in 1997 won a High Court battle to become the sole copyright owner - but in 2018 signed over clothing license rights to WAM Clothing. This means WAM Clothing collects fees from its use, and then passes a portion of the money back to the Mr Thomas. It also means that without the consent of Mr Wooster and Ms Moore, the flag cannot be used on clothing or in any media. The AFL this week announced it wouldn't be using the most obvious and famous symbol of Aboriginal Australia as part of its Indigenous Round because they had been unable to secure a deal with the co-owners. Mr Wooster is a disgraced businessman whose former company was fined $2.3m for claiming art was Aboriginal when it was actually made in Indonesia, while Ms Moore was a paralegal at a leading Brisbane law firm before founding WAM Clothing. Ms Moore told Daily Mail Australia that when it came to the question of whether use of the flag should be controlled by companies, that was a matter for its designer. 'Harold Thomas is the copyright owner and he can enter into deals with whoever he likes,' she said.

'There was a previous clothing licensee, it was an Indian company, but Harold wasn't happy with the work they were doing and so he approached my business partner (Mr Wooster) who he had been working with previously.' WAM Clothing controls the copyright license for clothing and media, which includes the flag being painted on an AFL ground. Gift Mate - another of Mr Wooster's companies - looks after the license for souvenirs, while Carroll and Richardson control the license for flags and bunting. This is despite one of Mr Wooster's former companies being fined $2.3 million for claiming to sell 'authentic Aboriginal Art' which was actually mass produced in Indonesia. The Federal Court found Birubi Art Pty Ltd supplied some 50,000 fake boomerangs, bullroarers, didgeridoos to gift shops and outlets between July 2015 and November 2017. 'Birubi's actions were extremely serious. Not only did they mislead consumers, they were liable to cause offence and distress to Australian Aboriginal people,' Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner Sarah Court said. 'Engagement in the Indigenous Australian art industry is extremely important to a significant number of Australian Aboriginal people, especially those in remote regions. 'The ACCC took this action because the misleading conduct has the potential to undermine the integrity of the industry and reduce opportunities for Australian Aboriginal peoples.' In the aftermath of the ACCC ruling, Mr Wooster deregistered his Birubi company. Its owner Mr Wooster did however issued a statement to 60 Minutes in 2018 saying their products were made by an Indigenous artist. 'Claims that Birubi Art’s artist... is not Indigenous are completely untrue,' he said. 'Confirmation of Aboriginality has been provided to... by the... Local Aboriginal Land Council.'”

     Well, in the interests of reconciliation I will undertake to design a new flag for the Aboriginal people, and I will do this for free, and assign all IP rights to the Aboriginal community. I have a ripper of a design, but am keeping it secret. I have not even shown it to Uncle Len in Adelaide, who cannot keep his mouth shut, and would probably sell the design for cheap grog at the local pub, if they have them in Adelaide still! Wait, how can I make Adelaide jokes, when the joke is on us Melbournians?