ABSTRACT
This book has explored one of the processes involved in reclaiming collective knowledge manifested in the arts and practices in the Caribbean and the Americas from a rights perspective, and on the basis of their cultural significance. In so doing, it has inserted into the discourse another category of collective knowledge associated with communities or countries which is not usually given extensive consideration, and which is excluded from the protection net of the relevant existing and proposed laws. Specifi cally, community or country claims to attribution and economic rights in relation to cultural signifiers important to them cannot be accommodated, at least not yet. However, the regimes under consideration are at different stages of development — a fact which may provide opportunities for their reshaping.
