Copycats and copyrights of Indigenous art

It was a crime that shook the art world. One hundred million dollars in suspected forgeries, over 1000 more fakes seized and 8 arrests in a far-reaching forgery ring of renowned Ojibwa artist Norval Morrisseau’s work.

Police call it one of the largest art fraud schemes in history. But it's not just Morrisseau who has faced fakes and forgeries. Indigenous art makers and supporters all across Turtle Island say it is rampant and the cost is not just their livelihood – it is their culture.

Indigenous artists say copycat art is more common than you think and copyright laws must evolve to protect them.

Richard Hunt comes from a long line of Northwest Coast artists. The 73 year old Kwaguilth artist started carving at the age of 13 alongside his father, Henry Hunt. Richard says for about as long as he’s been a carver, he has seen his work copied. He says it is worse than stealing art: it is stealing cultural property.

It was a design meant to support Residential School Survivors but the artist who created the West Coast stylized hands says people are ripping it off for profit. K’ómoks and Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw visual artist Andy Everson and his wife Erin Brillon, Haida and Cree and owner of Totem Design House, have experienced the damage of copycats firsthand. They see websites selling inauthentic Indigenous art and design pop up on an almost daily basis. The husband and wife team work to educate others about the importance of buying authentic Indigenous art.

As the first art historian to be appointed to the Senate of Canada, Senator Patricia Bovey champions Canadian art. But she also advocates for better protections for Indigenous artists’ work. Currently, there are few laws preventing counterfeit and fake Indigenous art in Canada but Senator Bovey hopes to change that by pushing changes to Canada’s copyright laws and setting up a fund that would help artists go after art fakesters.