ABSTRACT
Conventional intellectual property (IP) rights regimes, such as copyright, patents and design protection, offer time-limited protection to the authors of original creations or new inventions. Contracts, agreements and customary norms or laws can be used to manage the 'gap' between western IP rights and customary practice. This chapter argues that in spite of initial attempts to link intangible cultural heritage (ICH) safeguarding and protection of IP rights at the international level in the 1970s and 1980s, by the late 1990s a separation had emerged between the mandates of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In some cases, community development programmes, affirmative action or other strategies may be more useful than protection of rights in fostering ICH safeguarding or community development. The main purpose of safeguarding as a policy goal is to protect cultural diversity in the face of globalisation, and promote sustainable development, to benefit the communities concerned.
