Maori Culture and Intellectual Property Law - New Report from the Law Library of Congress

This week the Law Library of Congress released a new report entitled: "New Zealand: Maori Culture and Intellectual Property Law", which explores the issues that arise from the desire to protect traditional cultural expressions of indigenous people from inappropriate use.

As the executive summary explains,

"in New Zealand, Māori claims regarding rights to “guardianship” of their cultural knowledge have been expressed in the context of the guarantees in the Treaty of Waitangi. Some recognition of these interests can be seen in amendments to intellectual property laws. However, there remain questions regarding the protection of expressions of culture that are considered in the public domain, and that are used commercially and non-commercially in both the domestic and international settings".