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ARTICLE · 29 SEPTEMBER 2021

The (fine) Art Of Copyright Protection: Unique Indigenous Challenges In Visual Arts

Gowling WLG
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The Woodlands school of art, also known as "Woodlands Style" and "Legend Painting", is a distinct genre of painting synonymous with Indigenous artists including Daphne Odjig and Jackson Beardy.

CanadaIntellectual Property
Susan Abramovitch
Susan Abramovitch
Madison MacColl
Madison MacColl
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The Woodlands school of art, also known as "Woodlands Style" and "Legend Painting", is a distinct genre of painting synonymous with Indigenous artists including Daphne Odjig and Jackson Beardy. Known for its vibrant colours, bold brushstrokes and stylized depictions of human beings and animals, Woodlands Style painters typically use pictography to communicate traditional cultural narratives.

Norval Morrisseau, an Ojibway artist from Northern Ontario, is widely considered the originator of the Woodlands Style and is credited for revolutionizing Canadian Indigenous artwork. Despite commercial appeal, Morrisseau could never fully capitalize on his practice due in large part to fakes and forgeries flooding the market. In There Are No Fakes, a documentary investigating the matter, it is estimated that Morrisseau fakes might account for 3,000 paintings and $30 million in fraudulent sales over the past few decades.1

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