Bonjour from Paris, France! I am the city of light to participate in How Can Equitable Access to Heritage Help Solve Global Challenges? An Exploratory Dialogue happening today at UNESCO House. Behind the event is the shared idea that the public domain needs to be protected and that everyone should have equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment. To achieve this, we need to be reducing legal, technical and financial barriers that inhibit access to the public domain and supporting the digitisation and sharing of public domain material.
In this week’s round-up University of Queensland Press has withdrawn an Indigenous children’s book over allegations its illustrator engaged in antisemitism for speaking out about Gaza. Also, First Nations researchers Professor Bronwyn Carlson and Tamika Worrell have released a report about Indigenous experiences of AI and why a lack of accountability, respect for Indigenous Data Sovereignty and connection to Country and community is behind many interviewees’ scepticism towards AI.
A New Approach’s fifth Big Picture report looks at cross-government arts funding trends, a long-running copyright and music sampling case involving electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk has come to an end and Australia pushes ahead with the News Media Bargaining Code 2.0.
Subscribers seem to be liking the short and sharp Rapid fire section so it will continue. This week there has also been more innovations and interactions to the WTF Now format: I’ve added Keeping tabs, a new section designed to give brief updates on things included in earlier newsletters. This week includes updates on the Wikimedia ban in Indonesia and musician Jo Loewenthal’s campaign for transparency in the global music royalty system. Let me know if you like the addition.
Also: Daz Chandler writes in defence of 2SER as an ‘incubator of democratic culture’ and Instagram has released yet another app trying to cut Snapchat’s grass.
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Rapid-fire
A short list of other things:
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has appointed Dr Ashley Hay as Establishing Editor of Meanjin who will transition the journal to its new home, oversee publishing, establish the journal’s operations and support recruitment of a permanent editor by the end of the year. Shoot through
- Congratulations to the winners and nominees of the 2026 Queensland Music Awards. Shoot through
- The Matilda Awards are looking for regional Queensland judges to help them expand the assessment and recognition of performing arts produced in regional Queensland. Shoot through
What’s been going on?
Here's WTF happened this week:
UQP pulls an Indigenous children’s book over Gaza comments by the illustrator
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has withdrawn the children's book Bila, a river cycle by Jazz Money which was illustrated by Matt Chun because it deemed political writing by Chun violated The University of Queensland’s (UQ) antisemitism policy. In response, a number of authors, including Money, have declared they will no longer work with the publisher in protest.
The latest in a long list of muzzling of artists and commentators over the Israel–Palestine conflict, University of Queensland Press (UQP) decided to pull Bila, a river cycle by Wiradjuri poet Jazz Money and illustrated by Matt Chun from publication and pulp the entire first run. The decision was prompted not by anything Money had done, but rather because of an opinion piece Chun wrote against the genocide in Palestine. Reportedly, it was found to be in contravention of The University of Queensland’s (UQ) antisemitism policy.
