However, I would hope that, as cultural experts, you all will go further in this arena. Anthropologists, folklorists, ethnomusicologists, archivists and curators are the custodians of culture (TK and TCEs) that has been documented on a variety of media. The deliberations at the WIPO IGC will directly impact the work that we do, as well as impact the IP rights of the people we study.

As key stake-holders in this international debate, we need to make our voices heard with our national delegations (in your case, Germany). With this goal in mind, I have been part of the USA delegation to the IGC for about six years now. It’s a difficult job, but I attempt to bring a folklorist’s perspective to the official positions taken by the US delegation (I sometimes win, but more often lose).

I have seen the discourse get more nuanced and complex as more NGOs are speaking up (beyond the indigenous NGOs). The IGC is one forum where we can make an impact by taking the floor and bringing our professional perspectives to the debate (which, for the most part, is totally dominated by copyright and patent attorneys).

Again, I applaud your study and hope that you all will speak up at the next IGC meeting.

All the best,

Peggy A. Bulger
Director,
American Folklife Center
Library of Congress