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.

This book focuses on the fraught relationship between cultural heritage and intellectual property, in their common concern with the creative arts. The competing discourses in international legal instruments around copyright and intangible cultural heritage are the most obvious manifestation of this troubled encounter. However, this characterization of the relationship between intellectual and cultural property is in itself problematic, not least because it reflects a fossilized concept of heritage, divided between things that are fixed and moveable, tangible and intangible. Instead the book maintains that heritage should be conceived as part of a dynamic and mutually constitutive process of community formation. It argues, therefore, for a critically important distinction between the fundamentally different concepts of not only intellectual and cultural heritage/property, but also of the market and the community. For while copyright as a private property right locates all relationships in the context of the market, the context of cultural heritage relationships is the community, of which the market forms a part but does not – and, indeed, should not – control the whole. The concept of cultural property/heritage, then, is a way of resisting the reduction of everything to its value in the market, a way of resisting the commodification, and creeping propertization, of everything. And, as such, the book proposes an alternative basis for expressing and controlling value according to the norms and identity of a community, and not according to the market value of private property rights. An important and original intervention, this book will appeal to academics and practitioners in both intellectual property and the arts, as well as legal and cultural theorists with interests in this area.

Now more than ever, indigenous peoples’ interests in their cultural heritage are in the spotlight. Yet, there is very little literature that comprehensively discusses how existing laws can and cannot be used to address indigenous peoples’ interests. This book assesses how intangible aspects of indigenous cultural heritage (and the tangible objects that hold them) can be protected, within the realm of a broad range of existing legal orders, including intellectual property and related rights, consumer protection law, common law and equitable doctrines, and human rights. It does so by focusing on the New Zealand Māori. The book also looks to the future, analysing the long-awaited Wai 262 report, released in New Zealand by the Waitangi Tribunal in response to allegations that the government had failed in its duty to ensure that the Māori retain chieftainship over their tangible and intangible treasures, as required by the Treaty of Waitangi, signed between the Māori and the British Crown in 1840.

The intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of the world's communities is an inheritance that has been passed down through many generations. Its survival, however, is increasingly threatened by the realities of post-modern society, such as rapid urbanization, large-scale migration, severe environmental change, and globalization. In 2003, the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recognized the importance of ICH, both as a mainspring of cultural diversity and a source of sustainable development. Early efforts to implement the Convention are bringing to light issues that are crucial to the survival of ICH. Many of these involve its interaction with intellectual property law. To clarify the relationship between these two fields, this present volume gathers the views of scholars and practitioners with diverse expertise and national backgrounds. They examine four main issues: the construction and operation of ICH inventories; the conceptualization of the "community" as a holder of ICH; how to obtain the community's prior informed consent; and the pros and cons of various regulatory regimes. With the book's variety of contributions, the common thread is the belief that regulatory regimes must be designed so that ICH will not only be safeguarded in archives and museums, but also in its living form.

Bringing together key insights from expert legal and heritage academics and practitioners, this book explores the existence and safeguarding of contemporary forms of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Providing a detailed analysis of the international legal frameworks relevant to ICH, the contributing authors then go on to challenge the pervasive view that heritage is about ‘old’ tangible objects by highlighting the existence, role and importance of contemporary forms of ICH to modern society.

Intangible cultural heritage is the traditional practices, expressions, knowledge, and skills that form part of a community's culture. It is protected by a 2003 UNESCO Convention, and by several regional and national instruments. This book analyses its legal protection, including from within human rights, intellectual property, and contract law.

This illuminating book offers an authoritative analysis of the legal issues relating to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Taking a critical approach, it provides a unique insight into the impact of international and national law on the present and future safeguarding processes of intangible cultural heritage. Expert contributors draw on the results of an international study conducted in 26 countries to illustrate how domestic laws comprehend the notion of intangible cultural heritage. The book explores the relationship that these states maintain with the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and highlight challenging concepts.

In the last two decades, accelerating technological progress, increasing economic globalization and the proliferation of international agreements have created new challenges for intellectual property law. In this collection of articles in honor of Professor Joseph Straus, more than 60 scholars and practitioners from the Americas, Asia and Europe provide legal, economic and policy perspectives on these challenges, with a particular focus on the challenges facing the modern patent system. Among the many topics addressed are the rapid development of specific technical fields such as biotechnology, the relationship of exclusive rights and competition, and the application of territorially limited IP laws in cross-border scenarios.

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 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.