In the lead up to this year’s festive Mardi Gras season, the Sydney Opera Trust sent a legal letter to the Harbour City Bears demanding that the gay social group for big hairy men immediately cease using its sixteen year old logo which features a bear paw over the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Each sail is a different colour of the gay rainbow flag. The Sydney Opera House Trust was established by the State Parliament in 1961 and manages the publicly owned site. The Trust’s own vision statement asserts: “Sydney Opera House belongs to everyone.”
While the Sydney Opera House is an iconic symbol for the Harbour City and the whole of Australia, the Trust’s legal department asserts, “The Sydney Opera House Trust manages the use of Sydney Opera House’s image and brand on behalf of the New South Wales Government.” The Trust does not distinguish between non-profit and commercial organisations in sending out legal threats to anyone using the Opera House sails as part of its own symbol, logo or marketing campaign.
In 2007, Telstra was threatened with legal action by both the Sydney Opera Trust and Uluru’s administrators when it used images of Australia’s two most famous landmarks as part of an online marketing campaign. The matter did not go to court. Whether or not a legal challenge against the Bears would stand a chance is problematic. Under the Australian Copyright law of 1968, it is not illegal to use “a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of a building.”
The President of the Harbour City Bears, Jonny Bastin sent a statement out to all members vowing not to cave in to legal threats from the Trust: “We know that many people love our logo as it symbolises our city, our club and our community. The fact that we have been using it unchanged since 1995; and that it is recognised in the bear community worldwide means it is now part of our history. Please be assured that myself and the current Harbour City Bears Committee will be doing everything possible to protect our club’s history.”
Gays and lesbians are a large part of Sydney’s ever shrinking arts’ audience. Whether or not the Trust would ever succeed at winning a legal challenge against the Harbour City Bears, its actions are certain to lose the hearts and minds of an important market in Sydney’s struggling arts scene.
By Lawrence Gibbons
