The United States, Canada and Australia have fallen behind in recognizing and protecting the traditional knowledge and folklore of their indigenous peoples and traditional communities. Why have developing countries moved so much farther ahead?
On Friday, November 11, ASIL Academic Partner Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology and the Arts will examine the disparity during its annual conference, “Who Owns Tradition? Reconceptualizing the Protection of Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge.” The conference will focus on the international aspects of this issue from a U.S. perspective while examining the theoretical discomfort, and sometimes outright rejection of protections for traditional knowledge and folklore in mainstream intellectual property discourse in developed countries. With the 2015 WIPO General Assembly renewing the mandate to resume negotiations on an international instrument for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore, it is important to understand the theoretical frameworks underlying their claims for protection. Featuring academics from around the world, the conference takes a multidisciplinary approach drawing on scholarship in intellectual property, cultural and human rights, history and political science, and anthropology.
ASIL is a cosponsor of this event.