Resources for Language Centres
The number of Indigenous languages in Australia has significantly declined over time. There are now less than 150 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia and the majority are still at risk of being lost. As the preservation of language is crucial to culture, there are currently nearly 30 Language Centres and organisations across Australia working to preserve and share Indigenous languages.
Arts Law is working with First Languages Australia to provide legal resources and support for language centres across the country.
Info Sheet: Legal Issues For Language Centres
Copyright and moral rights exist in the creation of resources and publications by Language Centres. Copyright and moral rights are forms of protection that automatically arise upon creation of literary or artistic work. A copyright owner holds legal rights in their original work and has exclusive rights to do certain things, such as reproduce the work protected. Moral rights give the author or artist the right to be credited as the creator of the work, not to have the work falsely attributed to someone else and not to have the work adapted in such a way as to impact on the author’s integrity or reputation. For further information see the Arts Law Information Sheets on Copyright and on Moral Rights.
Copyright resources for language centres
Language Centres may be eligible to receive the following contract templates at no cost. Please contact us at [email protected] for more information.
Language Resource – Release from Copyright Owner/Licensee
Language Resource – Copyright Licence
Language Resource – Copyright Licence Between Language Centre and Creator
Employment for Language Centres
Indigenous Language Centres often will have many employees contributing to resources. As an employer, the Language Centre generally owns the copyright to all materials produced by their employees where the works were created as part of the employees’ normal duties. Where a third party or non-employee is preparing works, additional steps may be needed to clarify copyright ownership.
