Short description:

Focusing on cultural expressions that are most likely to intermingle with copyright law, trademark and IP-adjacent regulations, this book examines contemporary issues in technology, intellectual property law, and culture.

Long description:

Focusing on cultural expressions that are most likely to intermingle with copyright law, trademark and IP-adjacent regulations, this book examines contemporary issues in technology, intellectual property law, and culture.

Intangible Cultural Heritage can consist of traditional knowledge, songs, craftsmanship, dance, and other practices, as well as the associated cultural artefacts and spaces; a widely varied global living heritage, transmitted generationally, must be allowed to organically evolve, often defying the process of identification so desirable in the realm of legal protections. This nebulous essence is particularly ill-suited to modern legal frameworks that can conflate the creative outputs that copyright is meant to protect with shared cultural practices. Combining a legal perspective with historical tact, the book develops a theoretical model to track the interaction amongst these issues as well as to make policy recommendations based on the existing and projected possible future outcomes. Several chapters of the book will be dedicated to contemporary issues where this framework and interaction are currently developing, focussing on law and technology issues with archiving and museums, online platforms and copyright infringement, and communities and creative production in virtual worlds.

The book will be of interest to students and scholars in the field of copyright law and intellectual property law.

?The book constitutes an insightful examination of the divide between ?knowledge producing? countries with a more IP law focus belonging to the developed side of the world and ?culture producing? developing countries rich in ICH, which in the end can be bridged through better international cooperation and inclusion of both ICH and IP law issues into legislation and policy discussions.'

Victoria Dipla (Greek Lawyer, IGNITE Trainee Solicitor Clifford and Chance LLP London), IPKat Blog

?Rich in detail, but accessible for a those who are not specialists in law, technology, or heritage, the book is essential reading across the humanities and social sciences, as well as for anyone interested in how best to support and preserve the past.' 

New Books Network Critical Theory

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction

2. The Law

3. Theoretical Framework (Tangification)

4. Cultural Adoption and Tangification: The Process of Intangible Cultural Heritage Becoming Intellectual Property

5. Historical Cultural Expressions: Tangification and Legal Development

6. Contemporary Cultural Guardians: Archives, Museums, and Digitisation

7. Future Evolution: Virtual Worlds, User Communities, and Creative Contributions

8. Conclusion and Recommendations