Abstract
AbstractThis article addresses the current international debate on the protection of cultural goods. Whereas some groups (such as indigenous peoples) are arguing for the creation of cultural property rights analogous to classic intellectual property rights such as patent and copyright, most industrialized countries advocate to keep cultural goods within the public domain. In this article, we develop an economic perspective based on identity and clarify the question of which cultural goods should be protected, regulated, or left in the public domain. We conclude that protection based on the concept of identity is required for a very limited scope of cultural goods.
Highlights
In the Intergovernmental Committee on Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Traditional Cultural Expressions of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO-IGC), nations from all parts of the world are discussingMARIANNA BICSKEI, KILIAN BIZER, AND ZULIA GUBAYDULLINA whether to provide more protection for cultural goods
We focus on the central question: What exactly is it that requires protection? We answer this question by introducing an economic approach to cultural goods and their protection
The United Nations define culture as “diverse forms across time and space; this diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities and cultural expressions of the people and societies making up humanity.”11 We define culture within the scope of this article as a phenomenon consisting of different goods that “are considered to consist of tangible and intangible items of cultural significance.”12 The specific feature of cultural goods lies above all in the fact that they must be treated as vectors of identity and not as mere commodities or consumer goods
Summary
In the Intergovernmental Committee on Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Traditional Cultural Expressions of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO-IGC), nations from all parts of the world are discussing. Rights are required to exclude these actors from consumption and restrict the commodification of these particular cultural goods To investigate this topic, the rest of the article proceeds as follows: The second section discusses identity as an economic variable, which is said to determine the valuation of the protection of cultural goods. The consumption and production of cultural goods within a particular culture are based on the choices and actions of individuals or a group of individuals, which induce changes in their utility function and in their identity According to this argument, the impact of cultural-goods-related actions by an outsider to the group on another person’s group identity deserves further attention. We distinguish between certain groups affected by the consumption and reproduction of cultural goods
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