ARTS WEST COUNCIL’S MANDATES ON
COPYRIGHTS – CULTURAL APPROPRIATION – CULTURAL INTEGRITY
Arts West Council wishes to educate and foster amateur, emerging and experienced artists on having their creative practices comply in three key areas respecting the originality and integrity of the artworks they create. These are copyrights, cultural appropriation and cultural integrity.
COPYRIGHTS AND COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
In Canada and elsewhere, artists own the copyrights to all the original designs and artworks they create. These rights are in place for their lifetime and beyond unless they sell those rights or give limited use permission in writing. What is copyright infringement? Copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is used by others – either reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.
All works submitted to our Juried Art Shows must be original works of art designed and hand-made by the artist submitting the entry. If reference photographs were used to create the work, the photos must either be those of the artist, or written permission for the use of photos taken by other people must accompany the entry. While copying other artists’ designs or artworks may be a great way to study and learn your craft, it is an illegal infringement on the original artists’ copyrights and therefore not an acceptable practice.
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
We do not condone cultural appropriation. Manitoba Arts Council defines Cultural Appropriation as:
“The unacknowledged or inappropriate use of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of a cultural group by people not of that cultural group, typically those from a more historically privileged group.”
CULTURAL INTEGRITY
We require your work to have cultural integrity. Manitoba Arts Council defines Cultural Integrity as:
“The practice of respecting and honouring the ownership of materials, traditions, and knowledges that originate from a particular culture or community. Cultural integrity can be demonstrated by following cultural protocols (rules): properly acknowledging and compensating contributors; and using materials in ethical and informed ways. Procedures may differ when representing one’s own culture versus another culture.”
Please refer to the Manitoba Arts Council’s Cultural Integrity webpage for further details on cultural integrity.