An Australia Day artwork by student Jessie Du will be viewed by millions on Google’s home page today but one feature of her original design is conspicuously absent – the Aboriginal flag.
[…]
The designer of the flag, Harold Thomas, who owns the copyright to the flag, refused to give Google permission to reproduce the design on its website, Google said.“We were willing to do pretty much whatever we could but in the end he decided that he just wasn’t happy with it,” the Google spokeswoman said.
But in a phone interview, Thomas, who lives in Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory, said he refused only because Google did not approach him in a respectful way and had demanded to reproduce the flag without charge.
“I said well you can use it but there’s a fee component and the [Google] person said: ‘Oh we can’t do that, we can’t pay for it, we’ll have to ask the girl to change it [the logo] if we have to pay for it,’ ” Thomas said.
“So ever since that time we’ve been argy bargying over how we should go about it and in the end it was a pittance offer so I decided why bother?”
Google refutes this but would not provide further comment.
Google stingy? The owner of the artwork greedy? Or is there a political aspect to this?
No political aspect as they intended to use it.
Nor should they have paid… Do you need to pay for reproduction of any other nation flag? Flag by its definition should be shared symbol…
a copyright on a rectangle, divided horizontally with two swatches of color?
absurdity knows no bounds…then again, the man lives in a place called “Humpty Doo”.
It’s a crappy flag design anyway.
Was Google going to commercially benefit from this? Obviously, Google didn’t think so or they would have cut a deal. After all, if there’s any company that knows how to make money it’s Google. So who loses out here? Jessie Du, the Aboriginal rights movement, but certainly not Google.
I’m with Google on this, Harold Thomas is to blame for trying to cash in.
I wonder if he gets royalties every time the Cathy Freeman photo is reproduced?
#1 it is not a nation(al) flag. It was designed to unite the aboriginal people. To use this flag on Australia Day is a bit of a slap in the face to indigenous Aussies, and would be seen as a bit exclusive to the rest. We have a flag, and that’s not it. There is a debate at the moment about changing the flag, and possibly a new flag could contain some elements of the aboriginal flag, but until it does, it can’t be used to signify all Australians.
# 3 Skeptic
No it is not.
good luck emigrating to australia if you have diabetes
That ‘flag’ should NEVER have been used in the first place. Its NOT an australian flag, nor should it ever be recognized or confused with it. It has always been politically used as a symbol of division by a tiny minority.
The stupid girl who drew it should not have been allowed to submit her design in the first place and I’m glad google had it removed. They should have stuck to something tasteful and interesting like Bing has done with their image of the day.
And #8, what the hell are you smoking?
#6 Grim Peeper,
How can the use of this flag be a ‘slap in the face to indigenous Aussies’?
The indigenous people of the Australian continent are the aboriginal people and not the white settlers from Europe and elsewhere. If this is their flag, surely they would be proud to see it on Google’s front page. It would be the white folk that may feel uneasy about (if they know the history of how badly they treated the Aboriginies.)
A black bar over a pink bar = aussie abos?
I don’t see the symbolism.
In any case, of the before and after designs, I like the after, anyway.
Its like tea leaves how one can look at a Google logo and work in all these inputs and questions
Luckily there is a new logo every day or so
Conspiracy central
Like a pork sandwich at a bar mitvah
Keeping an animal theme rather than having a single disparate flag symbol is “better.”
But very clever is the use of that swan/goose for the letter G. I don’t think I would have seen that for a long time.
Looking at the fox I thought “there is no “f” in google–but then recognized it was an “el.” Made me think a logo with animals/nature where the first letter of the animals name spelled google would make a nice construct.
When are we going to get a posting on the OUTRAGEOUS Bush Supreme Court giving our government over to corporations.
“Why don’t I get to read about this on a usually cutting edge blog?”
Google made the correct decision. Including the flag in the picture symbolized the inclusion of the aboriginals in modern Australia. If that symbol is derisive or divisive, then don’t include it in the art.
# 12 bobbo
I believe that’s an emu and a kangaroo, not a goose and a fox.
Australia Day celebrates the cultural diversity, the recognition of subcultures, indigenous people’s art and aspirations, to enjoy the food and music of a continent. It’s a cultural festival, which is why in Australia it only takes one day.
Well, Humpty Frickin’ Doo!
Identity politics in any shape or form are stupid.
So if I paint a red stripe and then put a gray stripe above it, I owe this guy money?
Re #7: LDA, to each his own. I see a sun floating on a sea of blood under a black sky.
The flag was originally designed for protesting aboriginal land rights, and it definitely works well for anger and retaliation.
The designer says the red represents the red earth. He could be colour blind… or maybe he was expecting a blood bath.
#17 Is that why there is *NO* America Day?
#10 To many aboriginals the 26th of Jan is the day they were invaded. Using their flag on this day is antagonistic. Not all Aborigines feel this way, but a large enough percentage that it is insensitive to do so. There used to be protests a around the country by Aborigines on this day. I’m all for including them, but only if they want to be, and definitely not in such a culturally insensitive way.
I am Australian, I’ve been friends with several people with Aboriginal heritage over the years. I speak from first hand experience.
#10 where are you from?
I am wondering if we should pay dinosaurs for the use of their land? Some people just use any opportunity to cash in regardless of context.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, sue.
Google isn’t making money off this. They are honoring somebody. If the guy didn’t want his work used without a big pay off then he’s welcome to keep it.
Of course his organization needs to dump his trash and use something that people can use without paying a fee. The real state flag would have been a better choice.
# 21 Skeptic
Agreed. To each their own.
When I was about 8 or 9 (1986/87) I asked my friend (who was aboriginal) if the red was blood and he said it was the land too (black/the people & yellow/sun), I took his word for it. If anything I originally thought the blood was for the Aborigines that had been massacred over 150 years, not what they intended to do to others (and which they have not attempted to do).
It was not hard for me to believe him as where I grew-up the ground was almost red (like Uluru). I guess the designer is the only one that knows for sure.
Australian animals surrounding the aboriginal flag? So evidently the designer of the Google image equates aboriginal people with animals, surely no one can see how offensive that is *insert $1.99 sarcasm icon*.