Copyright, Repatriation, and Restitution

(Banksy)

Before comparing the similarities and differences between copyright, repatriation, and restitution, let’s look at what these three words mean and why they are so important. Copyright is seen on just about every piece of art, image, song, book, document, speech, etc. It “provides legal protection for Intellectual Property” (DTC 201: Connections Overview Video – 0:34). The copyright rules according to the United States of America are pieces of work made by an author are only available for free use 70+ years after the author or creator has passed away. Every copyright time stamp is different from country to country, although, most are minimum of 50+ years after the author’s or creator’s death. Currently, for the United States of America, content made before the 1923’s in entirely open for public use without worry of copyright. This is over 90 years ago and the fact that this doesn’t match up with the 70-year rule, is because of Walt Disney (DTC 201: Connections Overview Video – 1:12). His first works were made in the 1920’s and he passed away in 1966, so it has only been 55 years since his death, making all of his work still copyrighted.

Repatriation is “the return of something to a country or organized group” (DTC 201: Connections Overview Video – 4:36). This act of returning something is becoming more and more popular in the United States in the past couple years regarding Native Americans and their culture. A prime example would be the Kennewick Man. In the article, Over 9,000 Years Later, Kennewick Man Will Be Given a Native American Burial, the man’s body was found in Kennewick, Washington on federal land, where the U.S. Army originally had the rights to decide how to dispose of said body (Blakemore). But after further investigation, “the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has at last declared the Kennewick Man is related to modern Native Americans” (Blakemore). Since this knowledge was released to the public, it was required under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act that the body be returned to its rightful place and buried with the correct preparations.

Restitution is the “return of something to its rightful owner” (DTC 201: Connections Overview Video – 5:53). This act is seen mainly in situations where objects and artifacts taken from other countries throughout the 1700s and 1800s are requested to be returned to the original country, people, and families. Currently, we see this issue with the French museums holding artifacts from African countries. In the article, The request to return all African artifacts in French Museums back to the African people, since the items in the French museums were “acquired” in the 1800s from other countries and explorers around the world, Christopher Hooton states, “there is not always clear documentation on the transfer, which many see as a simple case of looting” (Hooton). This means no one really knows how the artifacts traveled from country to country and since there’s no way of proving the transfer, people assume the items were simply looted. Returning the items would be the best course of action, but the request is still being processed and decided upon.

The similarities between copyright and repatriation and restitution are all three have originality and ownership, whether it be a single person, a family, a community, a culture, or a country, everything that was created belongs somewhere and to someone. According to our rules now about copyright, once something is created, it’s technically copyrighted right away, but the copyright symbol just helps remind people that this work is copyrighted and can’t be distributed without permission (Copyright Basics – 1:22-2:05). In the case of artifacts and items taken from other countries, there was never a copyright symbol and at the time they were created, the idea of copyright wasn’t even there yet. But that doesn’t mean explorers can just take whatever they find because it’s entirely different from their own culture and way of living.

The differences between copyright and repatriation and restitution are copyright is an in the moment kind of title and it given to art, work, or songs right away because it’s original work and repatriation and restitution is the healing process of people in the past breaking those copyright laws. A great example from what I stated before is the Kennewick Man; he was found and preserved because it teaches people about the past, when in reality he was a Native American that was already buried, which makes the situation of the archeologists finding and removing the body the concept of grave-robbing. So, returning his body to the Native Americans for a proper burial is using repatriation to repair the broken copyright laws. Both repatriation and restitution are the acts of returning something to their original homes and owners, no matter what it is. In the end this helps communities around the world receive and preserve their culture that was once taken away from them before.

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Bibliography

Blakemore, Erin. Over 9,000 Years Later, Kennewick Man Will Be Given a Native American Burial. Smithsonian MAGAZINE, 28 April 2016, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/over-9000-years-later-kennewick-man-will-be-given-native-american-burial-180958947/ . Accessed 29 July 2021.

Gregory, Ruth. “DTC 201: Connections Overview Video.” YouTube, uploaded by WSU – Digital Technology & Culture Programs, 21 April 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FLi_Oaucnc&ab_channel=WSU-DigitalTechnology%26CultureProgram

Hooton, Christopher. French museums should return looted art treasure to Africa, report commissioned Macron says. INDEPENDENT, 22 November 2018, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/france-museums-art-looted-africa-colonial-heritage-law-macron-report-a8646611.html . Accessed 29 July 2021.

Librarian, Jim T. “Copyright Basics.” YouTube, uploaded by Copyright Clearance Center, 24 September 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiq42O6rhW4&ab_channel=CopyrightClearanceCenter