The Idols of the Cave: Reimagining the Protection of Indigenous Knowledge and Expression

Résumé :

This article examines the limitations of existing intellectual property regimes in regulating the use, transmission, and exploitation of Indigenous ideas and forms of expression, and seeks to identify adjustments necessary to create fruitful debate about the possibility of law reform in this area. The author posits that the ineffectiveness of current intellectual property regimes in protecting Indigenous ideas and cultural expressions reflects the historic marginalization of Indigenous peoples’ rights to their traditional lands and resources. Drawing on principles of negotiation theory, this argument challenges the neutrality of current intellectual property rules and examines the differences between Western and Indigenous conceptions of the nature and significance of individual ideas and expression, and the historical and contemporary context that frames Indigenous peoples’ concerns about the protection of cultural knowledge.