"Where money issues meet IP rights". This weblog looks at financial issues for intellectual property rights: securitisation and collateral, IP valuation for acquisition and balance sheet purposes, tax and R&D breaks, film and product finance, calculating quantum of damages--anything that happens where IP meets money.
Monday 4 March 2013
Intellectual Property, Cultural Appropriation and Value(s)
The intersection of intellectual property and cultural appropriation
raises many issues and is rife with controversy. The allegations
of the, at least immoral if not unlawful, taking of cultural property,
traditional cultural expressions or biological resources for “outsider” commercial
exploitation are not new. The use of
intellectual property to then protect and exclude others (including insiders) from
using that property is also not new. Here
is a recent allegation of cultural appropriation by MSNBC reporter Melissa Harris-Perry concerning the viral “Harlem Shake” videos. The usual suspect of issues exist concerning allegations of cultural appropriation such as “who
is the owner of “Harlem Shake” the term and the dance?”; “who has the power to
include or exclude others to the original dance or term?”; “what is fair
attribution or respect for use of the dance or term?”; “what is fair
compensation for use of the term or dance?” in light of “Western”
notions of intellectual property. (Hat tip to
Professor and Associate Director Steve Jamar at Howard University School of Law in
Washington DC for the lead to the video.
Professors Lateef Mtima and Jamar lead the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice at Howard University.)
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