Can emerging economies use the intellectual property system to develop wealth through their cultural heritage?
There is great potential for developing countries to use copyrights to establish and economically benefit from cultural industries such as film, music, literature, and broadcasting. Additionally, a nation’s visual, graphic, performing, and photographic arts can also be a source of national wealth. To capture the economic value of these industries for local economic benefits, emerging economies need to establish appropriate intellectual property infrastructures. Further, museums, which already play a vital role in collecting, preserving and interpreting cultural heritage, contribute to wealth development by offering their collections to a global audience via tourism, multimedia presentations and the Internet. The Institute has prepared a resource guide to assist museums all over the world in contributing to the economic growth of their countries.
Consider that heritage and the common objects and ideas associated with it is something belonging to a people, not an individual or investment group. It’s usually old enough or disseminated enough that even if someone were to claim ownership of it, it would be trivial to prove in court that it belongs in the public domain.
For instance, no one has ever copyrighted the Bible. One could apply for a copyright to the King James Version, but it’s unlikely that it would be granted. If it was granted, however, it would likely be taken to court and placed back in the public domain, costing the person who attempted the copyright money rather than earning any.
Rather, intellectual property is more likely to be used against a culture under an emerging economy by unscrupulous individuals in another, more established economy. If you find a folk song in a foreign country that is unknown in your own, you could conceivably copyright it as an original work in your home country. This is what happened to the Australian song "Waltzing Matilda", which was copyrighted around 40 years after it was written by an American company, Carl Fischer Music, who charged royalties when it was played during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
As you can see, intellectual property would be a shaky thing to base an economy on, particularly an emerging one.
