Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights

Legal Obstacles and Innovative Solutions

Edited by Mary Riley

Publication date:

13 October 2004

Length of book:

320 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780759104860

Riley and her group of expert contributors supply a unique set of worldwide case studies and policy analyses as guidance for indigenous communities and their partners, in attempting to protect their intellectual property. Much of the existing literature already addresses the poor fit between western regimes of intellectual property rights and the requirements for safeguarding indigenous cultural resources. The manuscript gets beyond these negative claims in depicting positive efforts at protecting indigenous knowledge and cultures, notwithstanding these legal limitations. The reader is exposed to a wide array of legal, political, organizational, and contractual strategies deployed by indigenous groups to protect their intellectual property interests. It will be an important resource for social scientists, advocates for indigenous and human rights, bioprospecting, indigenous leaders, NGOs and law libraries.

1 Acknowledgments
2 Introduction
3 PART I: LEGAL OBSTACLES
4 CHAPTER 1: "As Long As the Grass Grows": Representing Indigenous Claims
5 CHAPTER 2: Digital Vibes and Radio Waves in Indigenous Peru
6 CHAPTER 3: Intellectual Property Protection and the Market for Alaska Native Arts and Crafts
7 CHAPTER 4: The Amerindian Rights Movement in Guyana and Its Influence
8 PART II: DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
9 CHAPTER 5: Land, Tenure Systems, and Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights
10 CHAPTER 6: Benefit-Sharing Under the Convention on Biological Diversity
11 CHAPTER 7: Ownership of Indigenous Languages: A case study from Guatemala
12 PART III: ACCESS AND CONTROL
13 CHAPTER 8: Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Peoples Rights and Responsibilities
14 CHAPTER 9: Biocolonialism and Isolates of Historic Interest
15 CHAPTER 10: Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Plant Resources of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation
16 CHAPTER 11: Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Cultural Heritage in Archaeology
17 CHAPTER 12: Prior Informed Consent and Bioprospecting Research in Chiapas
18 Index
19 About the Authors

This kaleidoscopic collection explores legal strategies for defending the artistic and technological creations of indigenous peoples from misuse by outsiders. Each chapter illuminates a different facet of the problem. Together they offer fresh and urgently needed insight into one of the most vexing human-rights problems of the digital age. A superb addition to the required reading list of courses on globalization, intellectual property, and indigenous rights.