Public Law Studies Quarterly

Safeguarding the indigenous people’s intangible cultural heritage: In search for the most appropriate legal approach

Authors

Amir Hossein Ranjbarian 1
Mohammad Saeedi 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD in International Law, Faculty of law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2016.60523
Abstract
Indigenous people are the people who, from olden days and especially prior to the colonization era, have sustained a common history as well as bonds and traditions that allow them to stand out from the mainstream society and enjoy their own unique practices, set of values and cultural experience. Living under the rules and framework of the central governing authority, these people have emotional and spiritual bond with their territory and place of residence. They also consider protection of their culture and intangible heritage, mostly carried through oral traditions, tantamount to the survival and continuation of their identity and furthermore securing their heritage from merging in other dominant societies in the surrounding world to the point of being lost. The legal approaches that have been proposed to protect the intangible heritage of indigenous people can be classified as two categories: First, the private and intellectual property laws that regards the mentioned heritage as of economic value, offers solutions relying on various dimensions such as copyright, patent, trademark law, the law of contracts and the law of responsibility. Secondly, the Human Rights that introduce new mechanisms to safeguard the indigenous people’s right to their intangible heritage and folklore, based on the framework of “Cultural Rights” in addition to the doctrines pertaining Human Rights which have reflected well in international documents and tribunal case laws. The extent of approval in this approach has even led some to consider the right of indigenous people to protect their intangible heritage as a part of their identity as a principle of customary human rights rule.

Highlights

الف) فارسی

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ب) انگلیسی

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Keywords

cultural rights
human rights
indigenous people
intangible cultural heritage
Intellectual property law
Private law
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 46, Issue 4
Winter 2017
Pages 907-928

  • Receive Date 13 February 2016
  • Revise Date 25 April 2016
  • Accept Date 25 July 2016

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