A federal court has awarded more than $145,000 to aboriginal artists whose designs were used on carpets without permission.
Justice John von Doussa ruled Tuesday that the carpetmaking company Indofurn had infringed on the copyrights of the eight artists.A total of 246 carpets, made in Vietnam, were sold in Australia for up to $3,000 each.
One artist, Banduk Marika, said today that aborigines had long been alarmed at the uncontrolled use of sacred aboriginal images for commercial purposes.
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The judge noted that for aborigines, art is an important means of recording creation stories and teaching future generations.