Copyrighting the Past? Emerging Intellectual Property Rights Issues in Archaeology
Author(s)
Nicholas, George P.; Bannister, Kelly P.
Abstract
Rights to intellectual property have become a major issue in ethnobotany and many other realms of research involving Indigenous communities. This paper examines intellectual-property-rights-related issues in archaeology, including the relevance of such rights within the discipline, the forms these rights take, and the impacts of applying intellectual property protection in archaeology. It identifies the “products” of archaeological research and what they represent in a contemporary sociocultural context, examines ownership issues, assesses the level of protection of these products provided by existing legislation, and discusses the potential of current intellectual property protection mechanisms to augment cultural heritage protection for Indigenous communities.
