Judi Kenneally Raises Over $8000 of $20k Target For Goanna Legal Fees

Graphic Designer Judi Kenneally has quickly raised over $8000 of a $20000 target to go towards legal fees for her copyright dispute with Goanna’s Shane Howard.

Judi designed the cover art for the iconic 1982 Goanna ‘Spirit of Place’ album and for nearly 40 years there has been no dispute. Since the recent resurrection of the Goanna brand name for live touring, the art work commissioned for the album has been exploited for commercial products, such as t-shirts, mugs and t-towels, without a license from Judi, the artist and copyright holder of the images.

In a post at her GoFundMe page Judi writes, “For 40 years, Warners and Goanna have benefitted from using my artwork for the album cover and promotional and marketing purposes, as that was my original intention. Shane Howard, lead singer-songwriter of Goanna, is now claiming ownership of my artwork. Since March this year, it has been copied and sold on merchandise of T-shirts, mugs and tea towels on Goanna’s current 40th-anniversary tour of Spirit of Place without my permission or any licensing agreement”.

Judi’s ownership of the original artwork was verified by Australia Post in 2006 when they sought her permission to commission a stamp using her work. It was further verified in 2018 when Victoria Arts Centre also recognised her as the copyright owner of the work.

Lawyers for both Kenneally and Howard have failed to reach a settlement over the past six-months so Judi is now facing a court judgement to protect her copyright.

Howard claimed in a statement to Kathy McCabe at News Corp that Judi was “an employee of the band” but proof via an employment contact, records of wages or tax returns from the time stating so have not been produced as proof.

Kenneally denies she was ever employed as a designer for the band and was only paid minimal out of pocket expenses at the time for work she was doing. “Goanna did not employ me as I had my own graphic design business Goannart and merchandise business, Goannamanorfacture as a Sole Trader,” she says at her GoFundMe page.

For Judi Kenneally, the current legal stance is about protecting her copyright, something any songwriter or artist should understand.

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