AIATSIS AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVE
Collections Management Policy Manual
8.0 Access Policy
8.1 Legal and ethical considerations
Access to the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive collections is primarily governed by:
- the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989;
- the Copyright Act 1968;
- the Privacy Act 1988;
- individual agreements with owners or their delegates; and
- the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive Code of Ethics.
Of particular relevance to the management of the Audiovisual Archive collections, Part 10, Section 41 of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989, clearly states that certain information is not to be disclosed:
1) Where information or other matter has been deposited with the Institute under conditions of restricted access, the Institute or the Council shall not disclose that information or other matter except in accordance with those conditions.
2) The Institute or the Council shall not disclose information or other matter held by it (including information or other matter covered by subsection (1)) if that disclosure would be inconsistent with the views or sensitivities of relevant Aboriginal persons or Torres Strait Islanders.
The AIATSIS Act recognises the right of Indigenous communities to decide how their knowledge is used. Such provisions are generally not provided for by the Copyright Act 1968. Under Australian copyright law, the creator of an audiovisual object, or the creator’s funding body, is the sole owner of that object. Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, styles, techniques or information which is not recorded in a material form. Nor does it protect people or their images. Part 10, Section 41(2) of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989 seeks to protect the moral rights of Indigenous Australians. It prohibits the dissemination of secret/sacred or personal material and encourages consultation at all levels. However, Part 10, Section 41(1), while designed to protect secret/sacred and personal material from inappropriate dissemination, has allowed copyright owners, many of whom are non-Indigenous, to place restrictions on material for other reasons, such as pending publication. Such restrictions are contrary to AIATSIS’ mission. Materials restricted for reasons other than their secret/sacred or personal content are no longer accepted into the collection (see section 5.4).
The period of copyright protection for audiovisual materials varies according to the type of material, the year of creation, and whether or not the item is published. Individual agreements with copyright owners and the provisions of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989 are perpetual.
When providing access to its collections, AIATSIS Audiovisual Access staff first refer to existing agreements with individual copyright owners. If no such agreement is in place, copyright law must be observed, but access will only be provided in accordance with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Act 1989 and the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive Code of Ethics. Every effort will be made to ensure that material restricted for reasons other than its secret/sacred or personal content is available to members of the originating community. If possible, conditions of access will be renegotiated or exemptions obtained from copyright owners on a case by case basis.
8.2 Materials received without a signed deposit agreement
8.2.1 Grantee materials
The Audiovisual Archive continue to honour existing deposit agreements signed by grantees. If no such agreement exists, copies of the material will be made available to relevant Indigenous people. Other clients may access the material at the discretion of the Director, Audiovisual Archive or delegate.
8.2.2 Non-grantee material
Where no deposit agreement has been signed and depositors do not respond to written requests for a form to be completed and returned, advertisements will be placed in the national press requesting those depositors to contact AIATSIS. If no contact has been made after three months, access to the material will be at the discretion of the Director, Audiovisual Archives or delegate.
8.3 Secret/sacred and personal material
If the content of requested material has been identified as secret/sacred retrospectively and the conditions placed on the material by the copyright owner do not reflect the restricted nature of the content, or if copyright has expired, the material will only be made available for listening, viewing or copying following consultation with the appropriate Indigenous community or nominated individual/s (see section 8.6 below).
8.4 Access to the Works of Art and Artefact Collection
Access to the Works of Art and Artefact Collection must be approved by the Director, Audiovisual Archive and only in accordance with criteria specified in the document Works of Art and Artefact Collection Policy.
8.5 Publication, including Web-based use
In addition to copyright law and individual agreements with copyright owners, the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive will only supply material for publication following consultation with the appropriate Indigenous community or nominated individual/s (see section 8.6 below). Publication encompasses all forms of transmission whereby material is made widely available, including print and electronic publication, broadcast, telecast, public exhibition and web dissemination. Publication may be through sale or non-profit distribution. Prior to the consultation process, a draft version of the publication must be submitted to AIATSIS. A copy of a published item containing material from the AIATSIS Audiovisual Archive must be forwarded to the AIATSIS Audiovisual Access Unit upon publication.
Where the copyright owner is an Indigenous individual and is culturally affiliated with the material, further consultation will not be enforced, although it is recommended.
8.6 Consultation
Where it is possible to ascertain a clear link between an audiovisual item and an Indigenous individual, community, family or cultural group, a consultation process with the relevant parties must be undertaken by the client before any audiovisual material is published. The aim of this process is to gain the informed consent for the client to use the material in the manner which they have stipulated on the Indemnity Form. This process may be quite formal and involve a series of community meetings resulting in the signing of a formal agreement, or it may be as informal as gaining a letter of endorsement for the project from the relevant parties. A verbal endorsement is not sufficient.
A determination of who the relevant parties are will be made in good faith by AIATSIS using a variety of sources including the collection documentation, advice from the depositor and/or researchers who have worked in the area, and local Indigenous organisations. Where it is not possible to make a clear link between an audiovisual item and an Indigenous individual, community, family, or cultural group, approval for publication will be given based on the content of the item and the context in which it will be used in the publication.
8.7 Copyright Permissions and Indemnity Form
Before issuing copies of material, clients must obtain the necessary permissions from copyright owners. Copyright permissions must be obtained in writing with the signature of the relevant copyright owner. If materials are to be published, community consultation is also required, as per sections 8.5-8.6.
An indemnity form must be signed by every client before any copies of audiovisual materials are supplied. The Indemnity form serves to prevent misuse of materials.
8.8 Return of Materials to Indigenous Communities (ROMTIC)
AIATSIS recognises the importance of providing copies of audiovisual material to the communities from which they originated. However, we are unable to provide free copies of large amounts of archival material to every client due to limited financial and human resources. In an attempt to address this, Indigenous individuals that request archival materials through the Access Unit may obtain copies of up to 20 items (or excerpts from items) that relate specifically to their language group or their family, free of charge. This applies to cassettes, digital scans of photographic items, videos and CDs. Above this cap, normal access processing costs apply. Clients may decide to stay below the 20 item quota to avoid paying any fees. They may decide which items they would like based on a variety of factors including conditions of access, digital availability or relevance to family and specific geographic areas.
The number of free items (20) refers to the number of archive tapes, photographs or videos accessed, not the number of items sent out to a client. For instance, if a client were to request 5 short excerpts from 3 archive tapes and they all fit on one cassette, this would count as 3 items because three archive recordings were retrieved and copied to fill the request. Under ROMTIC, digital copies of audio or video recordings are only available for material that has already been digitised.