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Traditional Knowledge and Human Rights
Author(s) -
HAUGEN Hans Morten
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the journal of world intellectual property
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.334
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1747-1796
pISSN - 1422-2213
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1796.2005.tb00273.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , citation , human rights , political science , sociology , law , philosophy , linguistics
The work of WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (GRTKF), established in 2000, has only to a very limited extent drawn upon internationally recognized human rights in its endeavours. The article argues that the relevant human rights provisions from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be read in conjunction as providing a human rights basis for the protection of traditional knowledge. This applies both in the context of 'defensive protection', aiming at preventing third parties from claiming rights, and in the context of 'positive protection' aiming at excluding others from making commercial use of the protected material. The latter form of protection must, however, take into account what the local and indigenous peoples who have developed this knowledge believe is appropriate in order to ensure their human rights.