6 ms·

I would assume you could not copyright a national flag. If so, well heck I can think of a bunch of flags I need to get copyrighted.

ithkuil 6y ago
well, you first have to create a drawing yourself and somehow get a nation state to adopt it as a national flag. Order of events matters.
- sloaken 6y ago
  Like the 'happy birthday' song, if it is not already copyrighted .... and who would copyright their national flag.
  - 0xfaded 6y ago
    Happy birthday is now public domain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You
    - goodcanadian 6y ago
      Well, technically, the claim was never valid, but I guess it was easier to avoid the song or pay up than it was to take it to court.
stephen_g 6y ago
How many flags did you design that later got adopted by countries or people groups? There’s no question he designed it (although that artwork that contains a very similar design is very interesting). But the Government should have probably compulsorarily acquired it by now if he isn’t willing to give it up... I guess they’re waiting for him to die so it won’t be as easy for them to be dragged to the high court over the “on just terms” clause in the Constitution.
- thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
  It won't be in the public domain until 70 years after his death. (Though it might be easier to override his heir's claim after he is deceased)
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    Probably longer. Each time Mickey gets close to the end of the countdown, it gets extended by the US government and their crack squad of Disney negotiators.
    - sloaken 6y ago
      I know right! It almost like Disney is using some magic (Constant Authorized Side Help (CASH)) to convince the US Gov politicians to keep moving the goal posts.
  - stephen_g 6y ago
    I was talking about the latter - using section 51 of the constitution to acquire the intellectual property (the Australian Government can make a law to compulsorily acquire property from citizens "for any purpose" but only "on just terms"). My reasoning is that they're a lot more likely to have another "The Castle" episode (great movie, by the way) while he's alive rather than when the copyright is assigned or inherited to somebody else after his death.
    - thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
      Thanks! Do you perhaps know any cases of acquired intellectual property? I don't see any mentions of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_51(xxxi)_of_the_Constitution_of_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_51(xxxi)_of_the_Consti...
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - 6y ago
fit2rule 6y ago
You can't copyright a national flag, but this is not really a national flag - it represents the First Nation people of Australia and Torres Strait - but they do not have sovereignty. Much as they deserve it. Therefore this whole despicable episode comes off as a cynical, racist attempt to deny the original land owners their rightful identity.
- 0xffff2 6y ago
  I know virtually nothing about this topic, but Wikipedia says that the flag "is one of the officially proclaimed flags of Australia", and the page "List of Australian Flags" [0] lists it as a national flag alongside the flag most people would recognize as the Australian flag. It seems plausible to me based on this that the flag is really a national flag for legal purposes. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_flags https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_flags
  - thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
    Here is the original proclamation -> https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2008L00209 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2008L00209 "I, PHILIP MICHAEL JEFFERY, Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and noting the fact that the flag reproduced in Schedule 1 and described in Schedule 2 is recognised as the flag of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and a flag of significance to the Australian nation generally, appoint that flag, under section 5 of the Flags Act 1953, to be the flag of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and to be known as the Australian Aboriginal Flag with effect from 1 January 2008."
- refurb 6y ago
  How is it racist? The designer and person who owns the copyright is aboriginal too.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > You can't copyright a national flag, Except maybe the US flag in the US (given the particular US prohibition on copyright of federal government works), I don't see why not; and, actually, if the US were to adopt a private design as the official national flag rather than commission it, I'm not sure it would be a problem even in the US, since other private works adopted as national standards but not created by government in the US remain protected by copyright. There are certainly ways a private copyright on a national flag is inconvenient, but inconvenient and impossible aren't the same thing.
lazyant 6y ago
A lot of products use the Swiss flag because of this.

ithkuil 6y ago

well, you first have to create a drawing yourself and somehow get a nation state to adopt it as a national flag. Order of events matters.

sloaken 6y ago
Like the 'happy birthday' song, if it is not already copyrighted .... and who would copyright their national flag.
- 0xfaded 6y ago
  Happy birthday is now public domain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You
  - goodcanadian 6y ago
    Well, technically, the claim was never valid, but I guess it was easier to avoid the song or pay up than it was to take it to court.

stephen_g 6y ago

How many flags did you design that later got adopted by countries or people groups? There’s no question he designed it (although that artwork that contains a very similar design is very interesting). But the Government should have probably compulsorarily acquired it by now if he isn’t willing to give it up... I guess they’re waiting for him to die so it won’t be as easy for them to be dragged to the high court over the “on just terms” clause in the Constitution.

thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
It won't be in the public domain until 70 years after his death. (Though it might be easier to override his heir's claim after he is deceased)
- arcticbull 6y ago
  Probably longer. Each time Mickey gets close to the end of the countdown, it gets extended by the US government and their crack squad of Disney negotiators.
  - sloaken 6y ago
    I know right! It almost like Disney is using some magic (Constant Authorized Side Help (CASH)) to convince the US Gov politicians to keep moving the goal posts.
- stephen_g 6y ago
  I was talking about the latter - using section 51 of the constitution to acquire the intellectual property (the Australian Government can make a law to compulsorily acquire property from citizens "for any purpose" but only "on just terms"). My reasoning is that they're a lot more likely to have another "The Castle" episode (great movie, by the way) while he's alive rather than when the copyright is assigned or inherited to somebody else after his death.
  - thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
    Thanks! Do you perhaps know any cases of acquired intellectual property? I don't see any mentions of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_51(xxxi)_of_the_Constitution_of_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_51(xxxi)_of_the_Consti...
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - 6y ago

fit2rule 6y ago

You can't copyright a national flag, but this is not really a national flag - it represents the First Nation people of Australia and Torres Strait - but they do not have sovereignty. Much as they deserve it. Therefore this whole despicable episode comes off as a cynical, racist attempt to deny the original land owners their rightful identity.

0xffff2 6y ago
I know virtually nothing about this topic, but Wikipedia says that the flag "is one of the officially proclaimed flags of Australia", and the page "List of Australian Flags" [0] lists it as a national flag alongside the flag most people would recognize as the Australian flag. It seems plausible to me based on this that the flag is really a national flag for legal purposes. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_flags https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_flags
- thomasfromcdnjs 6y ago
  Here is the original proclamation -> https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2008L00209 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2008L00209 "I, PHILIP MICHAEL JEFFERY, Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and noting the fact that the flag reproduced in Schedule 1 and described in Schedule 2 is recognised as the flag of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and a flag of significance to the Australian nation generally, appoint that flag, under section 5 of the Flags Act 1953, to be the flag of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and to be known as the Australian Aboriginal Flag with effect from 1 January 2008."
refurb 6y ago
How is it racist? The designer and person who owns the copyright is aboriginal too.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> You can't copyright a national flag, Except maybe the US flag in the US (given the particular US prohibition on copyright of federal government works), I don't see why not; and, actually, if the US were to adopt a private design as the official national flag rather than commission it, I'm not sure it would be a problem even in the US, since other private works adopted as national standards but not created by government in the US remain protected by copyright. There are certainly ways a private copyright on a national flag is inconvenient, but inconvenient and impossible aren't the same thing.

lazyant 6y ago

A lot of products use the Swiss flag because of this.