An Analysis of the Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions via Copyright Laws: A Comparative Study of Australia, Canada and India
(2014) JAMM05 20141Department of Law
- Abstract
- Recently, a widespread attention has been given to the protection of traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge. Their legal protection is even more urgent in the current global society. The focus in this thesis has been given to the copyright protection of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). The purpose of this thesis is to assess the protection of TCEs under the copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India to arrive to a better understanding of foreign law, which may ultimately benefit the development of international law. Furthermore, the purpose is to point out potential shortcomings of copyright law and consequently to provide a contribution to the discussion on protection of TCEs as well as to provide... (More)
- Recently, a widespread attention has been given to the protection of traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge. Their legal protection is even more urgent in the current global society. The focus in this thesis has been given to the copyright protection of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). The purpose of this thesis is to assess the protection of TCEs under the copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India to arrive to a better understanding of foreign law, which may ultimately benefit the development of international law. Furthermore, the purpose is to point out potential shortcomings of copyright law and consequently to provide a contribution to the discussion on protection of TCEs as well as to provide recommendations. The research has been conducted on copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India and analysed through a comparative analysis in order to answer the research question “Does copyright law regime in Australia, Canada, and India provide any legal protection to TCEs? If it does, to what extent?”
According to the findings, copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India are able to provide protection to TCEs, yet only to a certain degree. This thesis demonstrates that protection of TCEs under existing copyright laws is impeded by a range of problematic issues. While copyright may provide protection for contemporary tangible TCEs made by current generations, pre-existing TCEs generally form part of the public domain and are hence available for use to anyone which is inconsistent with the needs and expectations of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. It is suggested that for those TCEs that are outside of the copyright protection other solutions, found in a set of distinguished and multiple options for protection, including existing intellectual property (IP) systems, adapted intellectual property rights and sui generis systems, as well as non-IP options, may provide better protection for TCEs of Indigenous and traditional communities than the copyright law framework.
The thesis also suggests possible approaches in the debate on protection of traditional cultural expressions.
Finally, this thesis sets the stage for future research that focuses on some of the issues raised here. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4941045
- author
- Urbanova, Hana LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JAMM05 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- TCEs, EoF, intellectual property law, copyright, legal protection, Indigenous and traditional communities, Aboriginal, Australia, Canada, India.
- language
- English
- id
- 4941045
- date added to LUP
- 2015-03-02 13:34:51
- date last changed
- 2015-03-02 13:34:51
@misc{4941045,
abstract = {{Recently, a widespread attention has been given to the protection of traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge. Their legal protection is even more urgent in the current global society. The focus in this thesis has been given to the copyright protection of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). The purpose of this thesis is to assess the protection of TCEs under the copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India to arrive to a better understanding of foreign law, which may ultimately benefit the development of international law. Furthermore, the purpose is to point out potential shortcomings of copyright law and consequently to provide a contribution to the discussion on protection of TCEs as well as to provide recommendations. The research has been conducted on copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India and analysed through a comparative analysis in order to answer the research question “Does copyright law regime in Australia, Canada, and India provide any legal protection to TCEs? If it does, to what extent?”
According to the findings, copyright law regimes in Australia, Canada and India are able to provide protection to TCEs, yet only to a certain degree. This thesis demonstrates that protection of TCEs under existing copyright laws is impeded by a range of problematic issues. While copyright may provide protection for contemporary tangible TCEs made by current generations, pre-existing TCEs generally form part of the public domain and are hence available for use to anyone which is inconsistent with the needs and expectations of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities. It is suggested that for those TCEs that are outside of the copyright protection other solutions, found in a set of distinguished and multiple options for protection, including existing intellectual property (IP) systems, adapted intellectual property rights and sui generis systems, as well as non-IP options, may provide better protection for TCEs of Indigenous and traditional communities than the copyright law framework.
The thesis also suggests possible approaches in the debate on protection of traditional cultural expressions.
Finally, this thesis sets the stage for future research that focuses on some of the issues raised here.}},
author = {{Urbanova, Hana}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{An Analysis of the Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions via Copyright Laws: A Comparative Study of Australia, Canada and India}},
year = {{2014}},
}