License to Wave

The Australian Aboriginal Flag, one of the officially proclaimed flags of Australia, was created in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist who, until now, held the rights to the flag so anyone who wanted to use the flag legally had to ask permission or pay a fee. In January, Thomas transferred the copyright to the Commonwealth government, who paid AUS$20.05 million to him and other license holders to extinguish existing licenses, secure copyright, and free its use by anyone. Interesting story all around.