Language groups within the NSW state boundaries have the right to have their stories recorded and turned into a material form.
Banjulung artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft is one of the First Nations artists, writers and other dignitaries present at the launch of the new Indigenous Collections Strategy of the State Library of NSW.
Bronwyn Bancroft welcomes the new strategy as it offer the opportunity to hear stories that had largely been ignored in Australia.
And, most importantly, the new strategy is recognition of the fact that there are language groups within the NSW state boundaries who have the right to have their stories recorded and turned into a material form.
Under this strategy, those troves of information can be accessed in the future by descendants of those aboriginal language groups.
This is vital for the continuation of a thriving Indigenous culture.
However, Bronwyn Bancroft wants community elders and storytellers to be aware of the opportunities as well as the dangers of copyright laws.
She warns that often the person who records the story or turns it into material form earns the copyright.
It is therefore very important that aboriginal elders and story tellers understand that someone in their family should be the person that owns the copyright.
