indigenous culture

Western copyright law is ill-equipped to address the needs (and expectations) of indigenous communities in Australia and overseas, given its emphasis on limited duration, fixation and the action of individual authors rather than collectives. 

As one would expect, it's particularly contentious and debate about particular reforms often embraces wider claims, such as bio-rights, that rightly or wrongly are highly unlikely to get off the ground.

     international

Among recent international activity a useful starting point is the new WIPO website on traditional knowledge. 

The site reflects the 1998 and 1999 WIPO Roundtables on Intellectual Property & Traditional Knowledge and includes the draft report of the WIPO Fact Finding Mission on Traditional Knowledge, Innovations & Culture. 

It also has pointers to major documents such as the

1991 United Nations Draft Declaration of the Rights of the World's Indigenous Peoples

1993 UN report on the Study of the Protection of the Cultural & Intellectual Property of Indigenous Peoples and 1995 Final Report on the Protection of the Heritage of Indigenous People

1982 UNESCO-WIPO Model Provisions for National Laws on the Protection of Expressions of Folklore Against Illicit Exploitation and Other Prejudicial Actions

1976 Tunis Model Law on Copyright for Developing Countries

Perspectives on that activity are provided by Michael Blakeney's 1998 paper on Access to Biological Resources: Domestic & International Developments & Issues, Catherine Berryman's 1991 article Toward More Universal Protection of Intangible Cultural Property and Peter Githaiga's paper on Intellectual Property Law & the Protection of Indigenous Folklore & Knowledge. James Boyle's Shamans, Software & Spleen: Law & the Construction of the Information Society (Cambridge, Harvard Uni Press 96) is an important study that critiques Western notions of authorship.

The international Indigenous Peoples Council on Biopiracy (IPCB) includes pointers to some thinking about bio-rights.

Valuing Local Knowledge: Indigenous People & Intellectual Property Rights (Washington, Island Press 96) is a thoughtful although somewhat idealistic set of 1993 conference papers edited by Stephen Brush & Doreen Stabinsky. Rosemary Coombe's The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties: Authorship, Appropriation & the Law (Durham, Duke Uni Press 98) has more bite. Elazar Barkan's The Guilt of Nations: Restitution & Negotiating Historical Injustices (New York, Norton 00) offers a perspective on international 'reparation' negotiations.

Thomas Greaves edited Intellectual Property Rights for Indigenous Peoples: A Sourcebook (Oklahoma City, Society for Applied Anthropology 94), an uneven but valuable collection. 

EU banker and politician Jacques Attali's Noise: The Political Economy of Music (Minneapolis, Uni of Minnesota Press 85) is too hermetic for our tastes. There's a more accessible coverage of indigenous music issues in Franco Fabbri's succinct 'Copyright: The Dark Side of the Music Business' in Music & Copyright (Edinburgh, Edinburgh Uni Press 93) edited by Steven Frith. 

Anthony McCann's 1998 paper 7th Irish Traditional Music & Copyright: an Issue of Common Property? offers another perspective

     local developments

Within Australia the agenda to a large extent is currently being set by Our Culture, Our Future, a wide-ranging and contentious report by Terri Janke on Indigenous intellectual property issues for the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). 

It was launched in Sydney in September last year; a Government response is likely to reflect the more restricted Stopping The Rip-offs discussion paper from the federal Attorney-General's Department and Department of Communications, Information Technology & the Arts.

On 4 December 2000 the long-awaited Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Bill was passed by Parliament. Amendments proposed by Senator Aden Ridgeway for the protection of indigenous cultural expression were unsuccessful. 

However, in what sometimes seems like an interminable process of review the government indicated that it will "consult with appropriate indigenous peak bodies as part of this process, and announce as soon as practicable a package of measures to protect indigenous arts and cultural expressions."

The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Library and Information Resources Network (ATSILIRN) has developed eleven Indigenous intellectual property protocols to "guide libraries, archives an information services in appropriate ways to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ... and to handle materials with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content". 

Among advocacy organisations the National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association (NIAA) is prominent.


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