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Digital technologies and the Internet offer unprecedented opportunities for the promotion, preservation, revitalization and protection of intangible cultural heritage, such as traditional music, art, performances, symbols and designs. Many valuable initiatives are using these new technologies to record, digitize and disseminate databases of these traditional cultural expressions. However, the digitization and wider dissemination of traditional cultural expressions can lead to their misappropriation and misuse. For example, cultural heritage safeguarding efforts have sometimes unwittingly led to the unauthorized commercial exploitation of culturally sensitive materials. As a result, indigenous organizations, museums and archives, and cultural researchers have called for guidance on which IP issues and options arise during recording and digitization initiatives. In response, the WIPO Creative Heritage Project is developing best practices and guidelines for managing IP issues when recording, digitizing and disseminating intangible cultural heritage. The project also comprises: IT assistance, in the form of technical support for the recording and digitization of traditional cultural expressions, and the establishment of digital collections and websites; and the WIPO Creative Heritage Digital Gateway, through which samples of the world's diverse traditional cultural expressions can be experienced.

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