Copyright Law, Access to Translations, and Indigenous Peoples : Towards Inclusive Education and Development in Australia and Beyond

Indigenous peoples are suffering from loss of language and culture, and the need to preserve existing Indigenous languages from extinction cannot be overemphasized. Indigenous peoples have a strong spiritual connection to their language that makes access to copyrighted works in Indigenous languages integral to the education and overall development of Indigenous peoples. Copyright law can play a role in enabling access to copyrighted works and inclusive education for Indigenous peoples. However, in many countries, the copyright system does not provide an enabling framework for addressing legal barriers to translations.

Using Australia as a case study, this article considers the existing development challenges of Indigenous Australians and hinges some of these on the lack of access to copyrighted works and inclusive education in Indigenous languages. It examines the Australian copyright framework vis-a-vis its potential to facilitate access to copyrighted works for education in Indigenous languages. It argues that the copyright framework in Australia can and should be revised to foster access to copyrighted works and inclusive education for the overall development of Indigenous Australians. The article also makes recommendations in this regard. Further, in recognition of the fact that Indigenous peoples everywhere face challenges to translation, this work also considers the international copyright framework for access to translated works and the reforms necessary within that framework to foster such access for Indigenous peoples globally

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.