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There has been some significant movement on two key Midtown projects in recent days. At the Armory District, a development spearheaded by...

Over a decade ago, we wrote about how Google had to edit out the Australian Aboriginal flag from a logo because of copyright concerns. An 11-year-old girl had won a contest to design a Google logo for Australia Day, and her logo included a simple drawing of the popular Aboriginal flag. Harold Thomas created a (fairly simple) flag design "as a symbol of unity and national identity" for the Aboriginal people in Australia. The flag became quite popular... and then Thomas basically became a copyright landlord, demanding payment for pretty much any usage.

In 2019, Thomas did a big licensing deal with a clothing company and proceeded to send out a bunch of cease-and-desist letters to others. It got so bad that the Australian Senate sought to have the government figure out a way to make sure the public could use the flag.

Apparently it took over two years, but the "deal" has been worked out -- and it involves the Australian government paying over $20 million to basically buy out the copyright and the former licensing deals, but that still doesn't mean the flag is truly in the public domain:

Mr Thomas will retain moral rights over the flag, but has agreed to give up copyright in return for all future royalties the Commonwealth receives from commercial flag sales to be put towards the ongoing work of NAIDOC.

A commercial company will keep its exclusive licence to be able to manufacture Aboriginal flags for commercial use, but the government said the company would not stop people from making their own flags for personal use.

So, given that he retains the moral rights, that suggests he will still have the power to stop anyone from using the flag in a way that he, personally, disapproves of. And the fact that there's still a license for commercial use, means that the government is still effectively enforcing the copyright.

So, in the end this was $20 million of taxpayer money... to basically pledge not to go after people for personal use.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the flag would be managed in a similar manner to the Australian national flag, where its use is free, but must be presented in a "respectful and dignified way".

"All Australians can now put the Aboriginal Flag on apparel such as sports jerseys and shirts, it can be painted on sports grounds, included on websites, in paintings and other artworks, used digitally and in any other medium without having to ask for permission or pay a fee," Mr Morrison said.

"We’ve freed the Aboriginal Flag for Australians."

With a whole bunch of caveats. If it's used in a manner that someone disapproves of, you better believe that it won't be seen as "free" for use. Hell, even the Google example from a decade ago probably wouldn't work, because I would bet the Australian government would argue that was a "commercial" use.

Mr Thomas said the flag's design was his dreaming story.

"The Flag represents the timeless history of our land and our people’s time on it. It is an introspection and appreciation of who we are," he said.

"It draws from the history of our ancestors, our land, and our identity and will honour these well into the future."

Seems just slightly ironic for a landlord who claimed ownership of a concept and then locked people out would call that a representative sample of "the timeless history of our land."

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Council chair has delayed a vote on issuing bonds for the convention center expansion without a commitment on the recreational center.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man died Thursday from injuries he sustained when he was shot in October 2021. St. Louis Police said an off-duty Northwoods Police Officer shot and critically injured a man who fired into a crowd outside a bar on October 28 at 11:10 p.m. Police said the shooting happened outside The [...]

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As a student in Hickory County R-1 school district, state Rep. Ian Mackey often struggled with following the rules of a classroom. “My way to express myself was usually really …

Helping hands are hard at work making almost 2,000 wooden roses one by one. They look just like the real thing, but don't need water and last a lifetime.

ST. LOUIS - AT&T is now offering a free internet option to eligible families. The free option is possible through Access from At&T in conjunction with federal benefits from the Affordable Connectivity Program. "All households that qualify for ACP will also qualify for our Access from AT&T program, including the newest speed tier. Eligible households [...]

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Billie Joe Armstrong is looking for any help in recovering a car that was stolen from him. In an Instagram post, the Green Day frontman put out a notice asking…

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Chad Harrell got on a roll when he decided to leave his first career choice behind and become an online entrepreneur.

Murphy, who had been with RFT since 2015 and editor-in-chief since 2019, broke story of his own departure in Friday edition of the free weekly newspaper.

An email from Superintendent Dr. Tim Ricker went out Sunday to say that an 8th-grade student at LaSalle Springs Middle School in Wildwood died suddenly on Saturday.

JERSEY - Jersey Community Unit School District 100 announced over the weekend a change to their masking guidance following a ruling from a judge in Sangamon County. However, the ruling’s temporary nature means those rules will either be extended or reversed in about 10 days. The ruling, which affects 145 schools in Illinois, places a “temporary restraining order” on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders on mandatory masking, vaccination and testing guidance. This means the decision on whether or not to make masks mandatory now falls to each individual school district. Jersey CUSD 100 announced their masking rules will change from required to optional. “In compliance with the court’s order, beginning tomorrow, the use of universal masking is highly recommended for all staff and students but is not required within the building,” the school district wrote in a statement. This ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by many school

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