Indigenous Arts and Crafts and Copyright Law: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and Australian Legal Frameworks

appropriation in literary works, films, audio recordings, and industrial products, to name a few. 16 This note will analyze the benefit of copyright in protecting indigenous community art through a comparison of the Australian Aboriginal community and the United States Native American community and propose recommendations to the legal system when the copyright laws fall short.Part I of this note describes intellectual property and how it is currently used in protecting Indigenous culture.Part II expands deeper into the history of Indigenous communities in the United States and Australia.It details Australian Aboriginal culture and United States Native American culture and exposes the modern-day problem with misappropriation of Indigenous arts and crafts.Part III individually examines both countries' copyright laws as well as other laws that are being used to bring legal justice to these communities.Further, it analyzes the differences and similarities between the United States and Australia's copyright systems supported by relevant case law to illustrate and examine these differences.It will highlight the alternative legal mechanisms currently being used for these cases.Finally, part IV includes recommendations for copyright laws in light of the noted shortcomings.I.