Picketers claim shop breaches copyright

Submitted by Chumpy Le Blanc (not verified) on 15 December 2004 - 2:27am
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  • Local
  • Protest Activity
  • Tino Rangatiratanga

Maori and Pacific Islanders have picketed a Chinese-run Porirua shop, claiming it is selling merchandise copied from their designs. The protesters allege The Special Today Emporium is breaching copyright for selling Maori and Pacific Island-themed T-shirts and flags.

Protesters led by Ngati Porou lawyer Tony Sinclair argued yesterday that the practice was flooding the market and financially hurting small-time suppliers. They held placards carrying the messages "You have no authority it's our copyright" and "This shop has stolen our designs".

Mr Sinclair, who represents the Auckland-based Te Whetu Marama Trust, which operates a business in Porirua, said legal action was another means of stopping the emporium from selling images of the Maori Party logo and the Tino Rangatiratanga Maori independence flag.

Store manager Pei Tai said that, after being approached about the group's concerns last week, merchandise featuring the flag was removed from stock and sent back to the supplier.

Ms Tai said the store had not encountered any previous problems and had checked with the suppliers in Auckland who believed they were within their rights to sell the goods.

Eric Jones, manager of Porirua retailers group Canopy Connection, said he was told by the shop that it would remove another three designs. But protesters said the copyright of up to 15 designs was breached.

AdvertisementAdvertisementDean Umu – of Halfkast Ltd, which sells Pacific Island-themed T-shirts – said the rival company was able to sell cheaper products. "We sell them for $30 but they're selling the same sort of thing for $10. We're disturbed about what's going on, we've lost a lot of money."

Mr Jones said the protest highlighted a need for retailers to double check their authority to sell certain goods.

Tino Rangatiratanga flag designer Jan Dobson died last year but her niece Kare Rata said Mr Sinclair had authority to reproduce the image. Copyright on an image can last till 50 years after the designer's death.

A spokeswoman for the Intellectual Property Office of the Economic Development Ministry said there was no register of copyright and the onus fell on "the fact you can prove it is your design".

Under an intellectual property classification called traditional knowledge, contemporary expressions of a culture such as paintings and textiles, could, in some cases, be protected by copyright.

15 December 2004
By PAUL MULROONEY (Dom post)