A legal tripartite for protecting TCEs: a step forward from the IP narrative

Abstract

The view expressed is mine alone and not of the institution/organisation I am affiliated to. The ongoing discussions on protection of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) of indigenous peoples are led by multiple international organizations, which look at the cultural heritages with lenses unique to their organizational scope and aim to provide some sort of protection within these already rigid domains. The different fields of law have segregated the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples into cultural rights, political rights, intangible property rights, land and other tangible property rights and, above all, human rights. It is in this background that the book ‘Legal Shape-Shifting’ by J.M. (Kelly) Breemen suggests taking a few steps backward, for a better protection measure. In Chapter 1, Kelly introduces the multi-dimensional approach and methodology adopted for the book and suggests a reliance upon three different fields—copyright law, cultural heritage law and human rights law, as an interdependent...