Traditional Knowledge and the Fight for the Public Domain by Doris Long

Abstract: What are the challenges facing the protection of traditional knowledge internationally? Can the protection of such rights, which have traditionally existed outside the boundaries of intellectual property, be achieved in the face of current challenges to protection epitomized by such emerging international movements as enhanced access to information and culture as a human right? This article examines some of the emerging issues in this hotly contested area and suggests that such movements are not actually adverse to intellectual property or traditional knowledge rights and should be used to craft a new method for addressing the issue of traditional knowledge protection internationally.