Abstract
India is home to a rich tapestry of indigenous cultures, languages, and traditions, with folklore serving as an essential part of its cultural heritage.Folklore, encompassing oral traditions, songs, rituals, dances, and other forms of cultural expression, reflects the beliefs, values, and history of indigenous communities. However, with the rise of globalization, commercialization, and digital dissemination, there is a growing concern over the exploitation and misappropriation of indigenous folklore. This raises critical questions about ownership, rights, and the protection of such intangible cultural assets. Intellectual property (IP) law, traditionally designed to protect individual creations and innovations, plays an evolving role in safeguarding the collective heritage of indigenous communities. The preservation of indigenous folklore through IP law aims to ensure that these cultural expressions are not exploited without consent or benefit to the communities they originate from. However, the existing IP framework, which is built on principles of individual ownership and economic exploitation, often fails to adequately protect folklore, which is collectively owned and passed down through generations. In India, various legal mechanisms, such as copyright, geographical indications, and the sui generis protection system, are being explored to address the gap in protecting indigenous folklore. Additionally, global efforts like “World Intellectual Property Organization’s ”, Steering Committee on Intellectual Property patent and Germplasm Resources, indigenous Knowledge, and Folklore highlight the importance of crafting tailored legal frameworks that balance the need for preservation, cultural integrity, and community rights with modern legal systems. This intersection between intellectual property law and indigenous folklore preservation is crucial for safeguarding the cultural identity and heritage of India’s indigenous communities, ensuring their continued existence and preventing misappropriation by external forces.
Keywords: Folklore, Heritage, Indigenous, Intellectual Property.
Introduction
India is one of the 12 global biodiversity hotspots and a key center for crop diversity, hosting a variety of wild plant species. The country is rich in traditional knowledge about its natural resources due to its diverse ecosystem. Many indigenous populations reside in these biologically rich areas, relying on their environment for their way of life and cultural identity. They are also custodians of traditional environmental knowledge and sustainable practices, which are critical for sustainable development. However, this knowledge, orally, is vulnerable to exploitation. The term “traditional knowledge” (TK) describes the wisdom that has been gathered throughout time by indigenous cultures, molded by their observations and environmental adaption.[1]It covers a wide range of fields, including knowledge of plants, animals, minerals, soils, medicine, and cultural expressions such as art, music, and folklore. TK plays a vital role in preserving communities, their culture, and the genetic resources necessary for their survival.The growing demand for protecting TK has led to calls for either adapting the existing intellectual property rights system or creating a new framework, such as communal rights or group land rights. There is also a need to empower communities to use their knowledge for their own development.
Examples of traditional knowledge include:
- a) Plao-noi is used by Thai healers as an ulcer remedy.[2]
- b) The San people’s use of the hoodia cactus to suppress hunger during hunts.
- c) Effective irrigation systems based on the use of water such as aflaj in Oman and Yemen or qanats in Iran.
[1]John Doe, Environmental Exposure and Health Effects, SCIENCE DIRECT (Sep. 15, 2024, 10:30 AM), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160412016303385.
[2]World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “Traditional Knowledge Quiz 2020”, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (Oct. 3, 2024, 3:00 PM), https://www.wipo.int/tk/en/tk_quiz_2020.html.