Asia/Oceania

A 15-minute phone call and the princely sum of A$1 have resolved what has been Australia’s longest copyright battle for the rights to the works of Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira. It is a victory for his family and clan who have been denied any rights or revenue from his work for more than 30 years. He had sold part of the copyright to his friend John Brackenreg of Legend Press in 1957. He died aged 57 in 1959 and his will gave the rest of the copyright to his wife Robina and his family. Legend Press put restrictions on the use of Namatjira’s paintings and images and the royalties to his family dried up. Multimillionaire and philanthropist Dick Smith contacted one of the current owners of Legend Press. Philip Brackenreg signed over the rights to the Namatjira Legacy Trust for A$1. In return Smith donated A$250,000 to the trust.

Takashimaya Co has opened a robot department at its Shinjuku store in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo — the first by a department store in Japan. The Robotics Studio sells cutting-edge products that have evolved through the use of artificial intelligence technologies, and allows customers to touch and use them. The operator of the department store aims to attract customers of various generations. Among 22 products on display are the Sota robot, which users can enjoy chatting with; “Musio X”, which can engage in English conversation; and Laundroid — a laundry-folding robot. Customers touched the robots while asking sales clerks about how to operate them.