Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources & Traditional Cultural Expressions
PIJIP performs scholarship and advises governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations on the potential use of and limits on IP protections (including trademarks, geographic indications, copyright, and disclosure of origin and access and benefit sharing requirements) in order to protect indigenous rights to produce and profit from their cultural, genetic, and other resources. Prof. Farley is the author of a much-cited article in this area. Prof. Jaszi headed an academic mission to study the potential role of sui generis intellectual property systems in protecting and promoting traditional arts in Indonesia. Prof. Sarnoff has produced a report for UNCTAD on treaty mechanisms to implement disclosures of origin requirements in intellectual property applications.
PIJIP Reports, Submissions and Publications
Joint NGO Statement. The Impact of Intellectual Property Laws on Indonesian Traditional Arts. (July 29, 2008).
In Indonesia, as many other parts of the world, there is an active
debate about the desirability of extending intellectual property law
protection to traditional art, music, theatre, dance, textiles, and
crafts (among other so-called "traditional cultural expressions.") This collaborative statement by international and Indonesian civil society describes how new
intellectual property rules affect traditional arts, and how well it
responds to the desires of those creating the arts.
Joshua
D. Sarnoff (with Carlos M. Correa), Analysis of Options for
Implementing Disclosure of Origin Requirements in IP
Applications, UNCTAD Report. (2005).
New international treaty provisions to mandate disclosure of origin requirements in applications for IP are needed. They should specify the substantive and procedural triggers for making required disclosures, the types and timing of evaluations of disclosed information, the consequences of disclosure failures, and whether to mandate or facilitate the use of international certificates of origin in making required disclosures.
Christine Haight Farley, Protecting Folklore of Indigenous Peoples: Is
Intellectual Property the Answer? Connecticut L. Rev. 30 (1997). SSRN Link
What can the Navajos do to prevent non-Navajos from using Navajo rug
patterns to produce rugs overseas using cheap material and labor,
thereby undercutting the Navajos themselves in a market for their
famous rugs? What can the Australian Aboriginal peoples do when their
sacred and secret imagery is reporduced on carpets they did not make,
and sold to non-Aboriginals, who will inevitably walk on them?
Government Documents
Past Events
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The Trade in Antiquities: Laws, Cases, Ethics and Staying “Out of Trouble.” February 1, 2007 | 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Room 603.
Through this slide-illustrated lecture, Professor Patty Gerstenblith will explore the law and ethics surrounding preserving archaeological context and heritage by museums.
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ILSP Anniversary Panel on Traditional Knowledge, March 27, 2007.
In conjunction with the ILSP’s 25th Anniversary Celebrations, PIJIP will sponsor a panel on the relation between traditional knowledge and the development and human rights promotion interests of developing countries. View webcast.
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Prosecuting Crimes Against Cultural Heritage, October 6, 2006.
Robert Goldman, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, and FBI Special Agent, Robert K. Wittman, discussed their experience and work together in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and on the FBI’s rapid deployment national Art Crime Team. In the past six years, Goldman and Wittman have been involved in the recovery of more than $150 million worth of stolen art and cultural property, including objects of cultural significance belonging to Geronimo, George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Brown, Andrew Jackson, Gettysburg commander General George Meade, and 19th century Arctic explorer Dr. Elisha Kent Kane.
Partners
Photo of Indonesian folk dancers taken by Prof. Jaszi. Attribution for graphcis posted on flickr.com under a creative commons license: black-and-white photo of performance artist by
Haags Uitburo. Photo of basmati rice by
IRRI Images. Photo of antique camera by
Tato. Photo of Navajo tapestry by teofilo.
A US-European collaboration has laid patent claims to all human (and some animal) antibodies against the critical HA gene of the H5N1 "bird flu" virus, an international patent application released last week reveals. The company has also specifically claimed DNA (and amino acids) taken from at least 3 Vietnamese survivors of H5N1. The DNA, which encodes antibodies useful for fighting bird flu infection, is contained in human cell lines established from the victims' blood.
Science needs to break free of its power-brokers and embrace a participatory web-based culture to boost innovation, says John Wilbanks of Science Commons - a project of Creative Commons. He says the plethora of machine-generated data that characterizes today's scientific activity needs the power of open networks to make sense of it properly. It is the ability to connect knowledge that brings scientific revolutions.
