Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions in a Digital Environmen

1. Lost in tradition? Reconsidering the history of folklore and its legal protection since 1800
2. Cannibalizing epistemes: will modern law protect traditional cultural expressions?
3. The Disneyland of cultural rights to intellectual property: anthropological and philosophical perspectives
4. Human rights, cultural property and intellectual property: three concepts in search of a relationship
5. Using human rights to tackle fragmentation in the field of traditional cultural expressions: an institutional approach
6. Legal protection of traditional cultural expressions: a policy perspective
7. “It’s a small world (after all)”: some reflections on intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions
8. The lay of the land: the geography of traditional cultural expression
9. The long tail of the rainbow serpent: new technologies and the protection and promotion of traditional cultural expressions
10. New information and communication technologies, traditional cultural expressions and intellectual property lawmaking – a polemic comment
11. Commercializing cultural heritage? Criteria for a balanced instrumentalization of traditional cultural expressions for development in a globalized digital environment
12. Traditional cultural expressions and their significance for development in a digital environment: examples from Australia and Southeast Asia

In the face of increasing globalisation, and a collision between global communication systems and local traditions, this book offers innovative trans-disciplinary analyses of the value of traditional cultural expressions (TCE) and suggests appropriate protection mechanisms for them. It combines approaches from history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and law, and charts previously untravelled paths for developing new policy tools and legal designs that go beyond conventional copyright models. Its authors extend their reflections to a consideration of the specific features of the digital environment, which, despite enhancing the risks of misappropriation of traditional knowledge and creativity, may equally offer new opportunities for revitalising indigenous peoples' values and provide for the sustainability of TCE.This book will appeal to scholars interested in multidisciplinary analyses of the fragmentation of international law in the field of intellectual property and traditional cultural expressions. It will also be valuable reading for those working on broader governance and human rights issues.