---
title: "Traditional knowledge"
chunk: 3/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_knowledge"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:40:50.574157+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Public domain ===
Literary and artistic works based upon, derived from or inspired by traditional culture or folklore may incorporate new elements or expressions. Hence these works may be "new" works with a living and identifiable creator, or creators. Such contemporary works may include a new interpretation, arrangement, adaptation or collection of pre-existing cultural heritage that is in the public domain. Traditional culture or folklore may also be "repackaged" in digital formats, or restoration and colorization. Contemporary and tradition based expressions and works of traditional culture are generally protected under existing copyright law, a form of intellectual property law, as they are sufficiently original to be regarded as "new" upon publication. Copyright protection is normally temporary.  When a work has existed for a long enough period (often for the rest of the author's life plus an additional 50 to 70 years), the legal ability of the creator to prevent other people from reprinting, modifying, or using the property lapses, and the work is said to enter the public domain.  Copyright protection also does not extend to folk songs and other works that developed over time, with no identifiable creators.
Having an idea, story, or other work legally protected only for a limited period of time is not accepted by some indigenous peoples. On this point the Tulalip Tribes of Washington state has commented that "open sharing does not automatically confer a right to use the knowledge (of indigenous people)... traditional cultural expressions are not in the public domain because indigenous peoples have failed to take the steps necessary to protect the knowledge in the Western intellectual property system, but from a failure of governments and citizens to recognise and respect the customary laws regulating their use". Equally, however, the idea of restricting the use of publicly available information without clear notice and justification is regarded by many in developed nations as unethical as well as impractical.

== Indigenous intellectual property ==

Indigenous intellectual property is an umbrella legal term used in national and international forums to identify indigenous peoples' special rights to claim (from within their own laws) all that their indigenous groups know now, have known, or will know. It is a concept that has developed out of a predominantly western legal tradition, and has most recently been promoted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, as part of a more general United Nations push to see the diverse wealth of the world's indigenous, intangible cultural heritage better valued and better protected against probable, ongoing misappropriation and misuse.
In the lead-up to and during the United Nations International Year for the World's Indigenous People (1993), and then during the following UN Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995–2004), a number of conferences of both indigenous and non-indigenous specialists were held in different parts of the world, resulting in a number of declarations and statements identifying, explaining, refining, and defining "indigenous intellectual property".

=== Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) ===

Article 27. 3(b) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) sets out certain conditions under which certain biological materials or intellectual innovations may be excluded from patenting. The Article also contains a requirement that Article 27 be reviewed. In the TRIPs-related Doha Declaration of 2001, Paragraph 19 expanded the review to a review of Article 27 and the rest of the TRIPs agreement to include the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore.

=== The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ===

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1993, was the first international environmental convention to develop measures for the use and protection of traditional knowledge, related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. By 2006, 188 had ratified the Convention and agreed to be bound by its provisions, the largest number of nations to accede to any existing treaty (the United States is one of the few countries that has signed, but not ratified, the CBD). Significant provisions include:

Article 8.  In-situ Conservation
Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate:
(a)...
(j) Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices...
Article 10.  Sustainable Use of Components of Biological Diversity
Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate:
(a)...
(c) Protect and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements