No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Indigenous Knowledge & Intellectual Property: Negotiating the Spaces
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2015
Abstract
Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of Indigenous cultural heritage. Knowledge about land, seas, places and associated songs, stories, social practices, and oral traditions are important assets for Indigenous communities. Transmitted from generation to generation, Indigenous knowledge is constantly reinterpreted by Indigenous people. Through the existence and transmission of this intangible cultural heritage, Indigenous people are able to associate with a communal identity. The recording and fixing of Indigenous knowledge creates intellectual property (IP), rights of ownership to the material which the written or recorded in documents, sound recordings or films. Intellectual property rights allow the rights owners to control reproductions of the fixed form. IP laws are individual based and economic in nature. A concern for Indigenous people is that the ownership of the intellectual property which is generated from such processes, if often, not owned by them. The IP laws impact on the rights of traditional and Indigenous communities to their cultural heritage. This paper will explore the international developments, case studies, published protocols and policy initiatives concerning the recording, dissemination, digitisation, and commercial use of Indigenous knowledge.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008
References
ACCU (Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO). (2005). ACCU Programme Series on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacific, 2004 Workshop on inventory-making for intangible cultural heritage management, Tokyo, Japan, 6–11 December 2004: Final report. Tokyo: Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU).Google Scholar
AIATSIS. (2005). AIATSIS Audiovisual archive's code of ethics: Collection management policy manual. Retrieved 4 October, 2006, from http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/audiovisual_archives_collection_management_policy_manual/code_of_ethics.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. (2005, May). Access and control of Indigenous knowledge in libraries and archives: ownership and future use. Paper presented to American Library Association and The MacArthur Foundation, Columbia University, New York. Retrieved 31 May, 2007, from http://conservationcommons.org/media/document/docu-i64cij.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Copyright Council. (2005). Information sheet, G22: Performers' rights. Sydney, NSW: Australian Copyright Council.Google Scholar
Brandl, E. J. (1973). Australian Aboriginal paintings in Western and Central Arnhem Land: Temporal sequences and elements of style in Cadell and Deaf Adder Creek art. Canberra, ACT: Aboriginal Studies Press.Google Scholar
Bulun Bulun & Anor v R & T Textiles Pty Ltd (1998). 1082 FCA.Google Scholar
Bulun Bulun v Nejlam, Flash T-shirts Case (settled matter).Google Scholar
Chaloupka, G. (1999). Journey in time, the 50,000-year story of the Australian Aboriginal rock art of Amhem Land. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Reed New Holland.Google Scholar
Council on Library and Information Resources. (2001). Folk heritage in crisis. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources.Google Scholar
Department of Home Affairs and the Environment. (1981). Report of the working party on the protection of Aboriginal folklore. Canberra, ACT: Department of Home Affairs and Environment.Google Scholar
Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages (FATSIL) and Arts Law Centre of Australia. (2004). Community proposed project agreement 2004: Developing and using language materials. Retrieved 30 May, 2007, from www.fatsil.org.Google Scholar
Feld, S. (1996). Pygmy POP, a genealogy of schizophrenic mimesis. Yearbook for Traditional Music, 28, 1–35.Google Scholar
Foster v Mountford (1977) 14 ALR 71. Foster v Mountford and Rigby Limited (1976) 14 ALR 17.Google Scholar
Janke, T. (1999). Our culture: our future – Report on Australian Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. Sydney, NSW: Michael Frankel and Company, published under commission of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.Google Scholar
Janke, T. (2002a). Unauthorised reproduction of rock art case study. In Janke, T. (Ed.), Minding culture: Case studies on intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions (pp. 100–113). Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organisation.Google Scholar
Janke, T. (2002b). Writing cultures: Protocols for producing Indigenous Australian literature. Sydney, NSW: Australia Council for the Arts.Google Scholar
Janke, T. (2003, February). Captured images: Film archives and Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. Paper presented at Culture and Ethics: Who Decides? A forum hosted by the Footage industry Group, Film Australia. Retrieved 31 May, 2007 from http://www.filmaust.com.au/about/publications/cultureandethics_transcript.pdf.Google Scholar
Janke, T. (2004). The moral of the story: Indigenous communal moral rights. Bulletin, 3(5), 1, 2, 7&8.Google Scholar
Janke, T., & Quiggin, R. (2006). Indigenous cultural and intellectual property and customary law, Background paper 12. In Aboriginal customary laws, background papers, project no. 96 (pp. 451–506). Perth, WA: Law Reform Commission of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Legifrance. (n. d). le Code de la Propriete Intellectuelle (Intellectual Property Code). Retrieved 30 May, 2007, from http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/cpialtext.htm.Google Scholar
Leigh, M., & Saunders, W. (1995). Hidden pictures: Colonial camera. Sydney, NSW: Australian Film Commission.Google Scholar
McCausland, S. (1999). Protecting communal interests in Indigenous artworks after the Bulun Bulun Case. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 4(22), 4–6.Google Scholar
Milpurrurru v Indofurn Pty Ltd (1995). Milpurrurru & Others v Indofurn Pty Ltd 30 IPR 209.Google Scholar
Regional Science Bureau for Asia & the Pacific Office of the UNESCO. (2005). Intangible Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 1 May, 2007, from http://www.unesco.or.id/activities/culture/general/258.php.Google Scholar
Ricketson, S., & Creswell, C. (Eds.). (2002). The law of intellectual property: Copyright, designs & confidential information. Sydney, NSW: Thomson Law Book Company.Google Scholar
United Nations Economic and Social Council, Department of Public Information. (2007). Indigenous forum discusses implementation of fourth session's recommendations: Possible study on proper protection of traditional knowledge. Retrieved 30 May, 2007, from http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/hr4924.doc.htm.Google Scholar
United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation. (2003). Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. Retrieved 8 March, 2008, from http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00006.Google Scholar
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation). (1979). Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Retrieved 8 March, 2008, from http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html#P85_10661.Google Scholar
WIPO. (2004). Draft provisions on traditional cultural expressions/folklore and traditional knowledge. Retrieved 8 March, 2008, from http://www.wipo.int/tk/en/consultations/draftjrovisions/draft_provisions.html.Google Scholar