Knowledge for the Poor: Improving Intellectual Property in Developing Countries

Author: J.Michael Finger
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: How to help the poor earn more income from their own knowledge rather than just their physical labor? The book "Poor People's Knowledge: Improving Intellectual Property in Developing Countries" elaborates on how the poor in impoverished countries can increase their income levels through their own innovations, knowledge, and creative skills. Case studies primarily examine the African music industry, traditional crafts, and methods to prevent the theft of craft designs, the activities of fair trade organizations, the ecological prospects and commercialization of ethnobotanical knowledge, the application of intellectual property law, and other ways to protect traditional knowledge. In these cases, culture and business are more complementary than conflicting. The author's intention in writing this book is to preserve the art and culture of the poor; however, they also recognize that traditional skills, apart from those placed in museums, will not be preserved without a certain market. The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) protects the knowledge owned by individuals and businesses in industrialized countries. The poor can only buy. But this book focuses on another aspect of intellectual property—the knowledge created by the poor in impoverished countries, which should also be sold to other countries. "Poor People's Knowledge" provides legal, economic, and business analyses of the issues in this field, and students and scholars in this area are sure to be interested in the book. Furthermore, for anyone trying to understand how people in developing countries can integrate their intellectual property into their development and how to find international markets for the commercial use of their own culture, intellectual achievements, and traditional knowledge, this book will certainly pique their interest.