Law In and As Culture: Intellectual Property, Minority Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by Caroline Joan “Kay” S. Picart

Excerpt

Attorney and scholar Caroline Joan “Kay” S. Picart examines the complex interactions and relationships between the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples with intellectual property law through the lens of law as a culture. Her approach to the subject departs from the traditional works of law and indigenous people by examing the subject matter through the connections that exist between 1) “property and intellectual property law;” 2) an increasing number of studies that analyze strategies for “protecting indigenous people’s rights”; and 3) attempts by indigenous groups to resist the “colonial appropriations” of their cultures and intellectual property rights (3). This departure permits the consideration and inclusion of cultural norms regarding intellectual property within the legal framework of the majoritarian culture. Picart has included updated and adapted previously published articles from the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, the International Community Law Review, and the John Marshall Law Review (vii). Drawing on what had been distinct publications, she brings together a work that addresses questions of intellectual property law that often conflict with the cultural norms of minorities and indigenous people. …