This is the first comprehensive review of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established in 2000. It provides an in-depth consideration of the key thematic areas within WIPO discussions – genetic resources (GRs), traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) through the perspectives of a broad range of experts and stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities. It also looks at how these areas have been treated in a number of forums and settings (including national systems and experiences, and also in trade agreements) and the interface with WIPO discussions. Furthermore, the book analyses the process and the negotiation dynamics since the IGC received a mandate from WIPO members, in 2009, to undertake formal text-based negotiations towards legal instruments for the protection of GR, TK and TCEs. While there has been some progress in these negotiations, important disagreements persist. If these are to be resolved, the adoption of these legal instruments would be a significant development towards resolving key gaps in the modern intellectual property system. In this regard, the book considers the future of the IGC and suggests options which could contribute towards achieving a consensual outcome.

This work is the leading guide to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), and the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances and includes a chapter on the Marrakesh Treaty of 2013. More than ten years have passed since the entry into force of the WCT and the WPPT. This revised commentary on the treaties reflects on the impact of their implementation and illustrates how they have come to be applied in different ways in particular through national legislation. It gives a detailed analysis of the development and meaning of all articles of these treaties and integrates current debates on copyright and neighbouring rights protection in the digital age. Written by two leading experts in copyright law, both closely involved in the evolution of the treaties and their implementation into national and EU law, this work is the definitive guide to the recently adopted international copyright treaties.

This Brief provides background information on the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).

There is growing interest in documenting the wealth of traditional knowledge (TK) that has been developed by indigenous peoples and local communities around the world. But documenting TK can raise important issues, especially as regards intellectual property. This Toolkit presents a range of easy-to-use checklists and other resources to help ensure that anyone considering a documentation project can address those issues effectively.

This publication, prepared under the aegis of the WIPO Creative Heritage Project by two external consultants, Ms. Molly Torsen and Dr. Jane Anderson, offers legal information and compiles practical experiences on the management of intellectual property for cultural institutions whose collections comprise traditional cultural expressions. It seeks to respond directly to the needs of cultural institutions and indigenous and traditional communities dealing with the preservation, safeguarding and protection of cultural heritage.

General information on the interface between intellectual property (IP) and traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), and genetic resources (GRs). It briefly addresses the most important questions that arise when considering the role that IP principles and systems can play in protecting TK and TCEs from misappropriation, and in generating and equitably sharing benefits from their commercialization, and the role of IP in access to and benefit sharing in GRs.

"Communicative interactions in international negotiations on cultural property not only provide information about the emergence and proliferation of arguments, rhetorics, and registers, but also permit valuable insights into actors' positions, strategies and alliances. They significantly influence local and national practices and views related to cultural property debates. What can be gained from a deep analysis of the communicative patterns and strategies that actors engage in - the entailing text and talk of negotiations - is a better understanding of the process itself: how do different actors argue, what kind of strategies and rhetorics do they use, to which instruments and institutions do they refer, and in what way do actors react to each other? An analysis of communicative interactions contributes to the question of how international negotiations work. The analytic inclusion of sociolinguistic practices allows insights into positions, strategies, and perspectives pertaining to cultural property. By looking at not only what actors say, but also at how and in what contexts they do so, it is possible to make more accurate statements about their positions and perceptions in cultural property debates. As these communicative interactions influence outcomes considerably, an approach from linguistic anthropology is not only beneficial for an understanding of specific negotiations, but also for the analysis of broader cultural property issues"--Provided by publisher