This book offers an original account of how contemporary intellectual property rights regimes could be adapted to suit traditional knowledge. It examines the ways in which international developments to protect collectively held knowledge typically associated with Indigenous Peoples could de developed to protect cultural signifiers which lies outside the scope of intellectual property protection. The book considers case studies such as the steel pan of Trinidad and Tobago, punta rock music from Belize, Brazilian capoeira, and the cajón, a musical instrument, of Peru, and sets out how rights proposed for these cultural signifiers might be implemented both internationally and domestically.
This publication, prepared under the aegis of the WIPO Creative Heritage Project by two external consultants, Ms. Molly Torsen and Dr. Jane Anderson, offers legal information and compiles practical experiences on the management of intellectual property for cultural institutions whose collections comprise traditional cultural expressions. It seeks to respond directly to the needs of cultural institutions and indigenous and traditional communities dealing with the preservation, safeguarding and protection of cultural heritage.
'This book performs a great service by drawing together the intellectual property law and experience of a number of countries in relation to the protection of traditional cultural expressions.' Peter Drahos, Australian National University This unique book provides an in-depth analysis of the different methods that have been proposed to protect traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) by using intellectual property rights. Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions examines the possibility of protecting TCEs with copyright laws on the one hand, and 'origin related' intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, certification marks, geographical indications and laws against misrepresentation on the other. In particular, it examines which rights are conceptually best suited for the protection of TCEs, and appear more appropriate to meet the range of concerns raised by the holders of that knowledge and policymakers in culturally-rich developing countries. Providing a range of case studies, this book will prove a stimulating read for academics, practitioners, international organisations and policymakers. It will also greatly benefit law or political sciences postgraduate students with an interest in intellectual property and traditional knowledge, TCEs, and development.
General information on the interface between intellectual property (IP) and traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), and genetic resources (GRs). It briefly addresses the most important questions that arise when considering the role that IP principles and systems can play in protecting TK and TCEs from misappropriation, and in generating and equitably sharing benefits from their commercialization, and the role of IP in access to and benefit sharing in GRs.
International developments since the mid-1990s have signalled an awareness of the importance and validity of traditional knowledge and cultural property. The adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the establishment of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore demonstrate an emerging trend towards the recognition of the rights of communities and the importance of culture in shaping international law and policy. This book examines how developments to protect collectively held knowledge transpose to circumstances which may not meet the usually understood criteria of what is considered to be an indigenous or traditional group. This includes communally derived cultural products which have emerged out of communities and subsequently formed a part of the national or popular culture. The book considers the steel pan of Trinidad and Tobago, punta rock music from Belize, Brazilian capoeira, and the cajón of Peru as key cases studies of this. By exploring the impact of past and recent international developments to protect traditional knowledge, Sharon Le Gall highlights a category of cultural signifiers which lies outside the scope of intellectual property protection, as well as the protection proposed for traditional knowledge and advocated for intangible cultural property. The book proposes a reinterpretation of Joseph Raz’s interest theory of group rights in order to accommodate the rights advocated for collectively derived cultural signifiers on the basis of their value as symbols of identity. In doing so, Le Gall offers an original account of how those signifiers, which may not be described as exclusively ‘traditional’ or ‘indigenous’ and held in ways which are not ‘traditional’ or ‘customary’, may be accommodated in emerging traditional knowledge laws.
This book is a very significant contribution to the question of protecting traditional cultural expressions. . . It is filled with fascinating ideas and perspectives that challenge the reader to rethink the law once again. Jamil Ammar, European Intellectual Property Review Legal protection for traditional cultural expressions is an area of contemporary policy making characterized by widespread concern and considerable controversy. Intellectual property scholars have a dire need for informed perspectives on the history of this subject area and the lucid commentary on its social and political implications that the authors of these cogent interdisciplinary essays provide. This impressive volume promises to be quickly acknowledged as an indispensable guide to the issues in this field. Rosemary J. Coombe, York University, Canada The first wave of scholarship on cultural appropriation was often better at denunciation than at grappling with the complexities of cultural heritage and its protection. Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions in a Digital Environment launches a second wave: nuanced, interdisciplinary, looking past accusation toward flexible solutions. For all that, it is no less committed to social justice. By bringing together leading-edge scholarship from law, the arts, communications, anthropology, history, and philosophy, the editors have taken research on heritage protection to the next level of sophistication. Michael F. Brown, Williams College, US and author of Who Owns Native Culture? In the face of increasing globalisation, and a collision between global communication systems and local traditions, this book offers innovative trans-disciplinary analyses of the value of traditional cultural expressions (TCE) and suggests appropriate protection mechanisms for them. It combines approaches from history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and law, and charts previously untravelled paths for developing new policy tools and legal designs that go beyond conventional copyright models. Its authors extend their reflections to a consideration of the specific features of the digital environment, which, despite enhancing the risks of misappropriation of traditional knowledge and creativity, may equally offer new opportunities for revitalising indigenous peoples values and provide for the sustainability of TCE. This book will appeal to scholars interested in multidisciplinary analyses of the fragmentation of international law in the field of intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions. It will also be valuable reading for those working on broader governance and human rights issues.
The work reviews issues concerning the protection of folklore through the intellectual property legal system, then explores two main issues in the protection of Chinese folklore. The first issue is the influence of Chinese traditional culture on the Chinese intellectual property legal system and Chinese society. The second concerns the deficiencies of the Chinese intellectual property system with regard to folklore. Both issues are examined through a survey on the weak public recognition of intellectual property law and folklore in Chinese society. The book also reveals the practical issues that have arisen in Southwest China through case studies. After analysing these issues, the work designs a model law specifically for folklore and also provides suggestions for how the current intellectual property legal system could establish a comprehensive legal protection system for folklore. Furthermore, the work shows that its proposed model law is effective in practice by resolving the issues in the case studies presented.
Intellectual property can be a powerful tool for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). Used strategically, it can help you promote your own products and services, and prevent the misappropriation of your traditional knowledge and culture. This short guide explains how, with plenty of examples of IPLCs who have made the most of their intellectual property rights.
Intellectual Property at the Edge addresses both newly formed intellectual property rights and those which have lurked on the fringes, unadmitted to the established IP canon. It provides a basis for studying and discussing the history of these emerging rights as well as their relationship to new technological opportunities and to the changing importance of innovation and creative production in the global economy. In addition to addressing the scope of new rights, it also focuses on new limitations to patent, copyright and trademark rights that spring from similar changes. All of these developments are examined comparatively: for each new development, scholars in two jurisdictions analyse the evolving legal norm. In several instances, the first of the paired authors writes from the perspective of the legal system in which the doctrine emerged, and the second addresses its reception in her jurisdiction.
Intellectual Property, Cultural Property and Intangible Cultural Heritage examines various notions of property in relation to intangible cultural heritage and discusses how these ideas are employed in rights discourses by governments and indigenous and local communities around the world. There is a strong historical dimension to the book’s exploration of the interconnection between intellectual and cultural property, intangible cultural heritage and indigenous rights discourses. UNESCO conventions, discussions in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Convention on Biological Diversity and the recent emphasis on intangible cultural heritage have provided various discourses and models. The volume explores these developments, as well as recent cases of conflicts and cross-border disputes about heritage, using case studies from Asia, Europe and Australia to scrutinize the key issues. Intellectual Property, Cultural Property and Intangible Cultural Heritage will be essential reading for scholars and students engaged in the study of heritage, law, history, anthropology and cultural studies.
