Browsing by Author "Mulat, Seble"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Property Rights Approach towards Traditional Cultural Expressions in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects
    (Addis Ababa University, 2015-11) Mulat, Seble; Haile, Biruk (PhD)
    This thesis addresses a number of pertinent issues concerning Traditional Cultural Expressions, specifically in relation to what they are, the terms of protection, issues related with public domain, whether or not the existing IPRs regime is adequate for protection and the dilemma surrounding ownership. Most importantly the thesis examines whether or not the existing legal environment and policies of Ethiopia relevant to the protection of Traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) are adequate. In order to address these issues, this thesis will examine the development of, national, regional and International regulatory mechanisms and how the current discourse is evolving at these levels. At the international level there is no single legal binding document for the protection of TCEs. Over four decades have passed since negotiations started at the international level to come up with laws to regulate the use of TCEs. The complexity of the issue, the variation of interests among stakeholders and the fact that developed nations have not given due attention to the matter are some of the factors that have contributed for the delay. The inadequate legal recognition and, ultimately, insufficient international recognition and protection of TCEs has orchestrated the misappropriation of such works for the benefit of the non authoring community In Ethiopia there is no comprehensive legal regime to effectively protect TCEs. At the time of writing of this thesis a draft law for the protection of traditional cultural expression is being prepared by the Ethiopian intellectual property office. The biggest underlying issue today both at the international level and in Ethiopia is whether TCEs should be recognized within the domain of Intellectual Property Rights or through a sue generis system. This thesis argues that because of the communal nature of TCEs, existing regimes of protection – such as copyright, Neighbouring right laws ,patent, trademark, Industrial design – do not provide adequate protection for TCEs; and that, therefore, new systems of protection need to be considered, developed and implemented for protection of TCEs in Ethiopia.