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A leading taa moko artist says the battle for intellectual property over ta moko is being fought in the studio, not in the courts.
A legal academic has suggested there needs to be a law change to prevent wearers of tattoo or taa moko from being caught up in copyright battles over the content on their skin.
Rangi Kipa from Te Atiawa says many taa moko artists including himself have had designs pirated, especially by overseas practitioners.
But a consensus emerged the legal system was not the way to go, while continuing to work had its own rewards.
"Taa moko actually orginates from here in Aotearoa. It originates from our people and our communities. If you want moko then you come here to get moko if you want whatever those other fullas do then you go to them. We can't control them, it's outside of our realm of control it's outside of the legal parameters being able to control it and we don't have the energy to do that, to manage that. We decided to just focus on our people," he says.
Some of Rangi Kipa’s recent sculptural work and jewellery will be shown at the Tiki Ahua Maori contemporary fashion event in Rotorua later this month.
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