Indigenous cultural and intellectual property and customary law
Indigenous cultural and intellectual property and customary law Report
Aboriginal Customary Laws - Background Paper 12
- Author(s): Janke, T., Quiggin, R.
- Published: 2002
- Publisher: The Law Reform Commission of Western Australia
Abstract: Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the original inhabitants of Australia. Indigenous cultural and intellectual property refers to Indigenous Australians’ heritage. It includes items of cultural expression such as the songs, dances and stories; the traditional knowledge of Indigenous people; and the cultural objects, sites, places, human genetic material including DNA and tissue, environmental material including minerals and species of flora and fauna, ancestral remains and documentation of Indigenous peoples' heritage. Indigenous cultural property and intellectual property are connected, as Indigenous people see the intangible aspects linked with tangible things. Our research focuses on the following components of Indigenous intellectual property: (a) Indigenous cultural expression – including songs, stories, dance and other cultural expression. (b) Traditional knowledge – including ecological knowledge of biodiversity, medicinal knowledge, environmental management knowledge, and cultural and spiritual knowledge and practices. Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights refer to the inherent rights of Indigenous Australian's to ownership and control of their heritage Indigenous people today still assert rights to the intellectual property aspects of their Indigenous heritage. Indigenous customary law plays a large part in determining the ownership, use and exploitation of aspects of Indigenous heritage. This Background Paper will explore some of the ways in which Indigenous customary laws relating to the ownership, use and exploitation of Indigenous intellectual property are restrained, protected or facilitated by Commonwealth and state laws.
- Urls: https://www.lrc.justice.wa.gov.au/_files/P94_Background_Papers.pdf (go to page 455 of 584 for this paper)
- Publisher Location: Perth