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.
