Creative Heritage Digital Gateway

WIPO provides IP advice and assistance to communities and cultural institutions wishing to record, digitize and disseminate their traditional music, performances, art, designs and other creative expressions of traditional cultures for safeguarding, promotional and commercial purposes.  Specifically, WIPO is guiding communities and institutions as to how to establish, identify and manage IP rights in their recordings of their creative cultural expressions.

Proper management by communities and institutions of these IP rights can prevent unauthorized misappropriation and misuse of the recordings in line with the safeguarding, promotional and commercial strategies of the communities and institutions.  IP management requires, amongst other things, IP-related information about each recording. This information, for example, identifies the recording, the holder(s) of rights in the recording, and any usage rules associated with the recording, including rules derived from customary laws and practices.

What is this Gateway?

This Gateway offers samples of recordings of TCEs made by indigenous and local communities and cultural institutions with WIPO's IP-related advice and assistance.

The Gateway also provides links to online digital collections established by the communities and institutions. These digital collections are managed independently by the communities and institutions concerned. Through this Gateway, the communities and institutions can be contacted for further information, including for permission to use any of the recordings.

In respect of each recording, you will find cultural information about the recording as well as IP-related information related to the management of IP rights in the recordings. The cultural information has been prepared and provided by the relevant community or institution. The IP-related information has been prepared with the assistance of WIPO.