How Intellectual Property Rights Are Human Rights

In Part One of this series of articles we introduced the concept of cultural appropriation and provided an explanation of why it sits uncomfortably with most of us. In Part Two we discussed the power dynamics at play and whether that power-balance has been struck in the current IP legislation we see internationally. This article by Myriam Christmann focuses on those power dynamics once more and looks at the remedies that are offered in order to strike the balance between indigenous people and the State using Human Rights Law as a lever for interpreting IP legislation.

The relationship between Human Rights and Intellectual Property is an interesting one, because it transcends different levels and aspects of each legal field respectively. However, it seems as though the relationship between the two only became apparent only in the 1990s. This is primarily due to the fact that intellectual property rights, by broadening its scope of protection, imposed limitations on