Cultures around the world face the problem of developed industries taking their ideas, rituals and remedies for the betterment of science and providing no compensation.

The founding director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School, Peter Yu, spoke to a group of approximately 40 in the Ensminger Room at Kildee Hall about the obstacles to creating international intellectual property law to protect cultural relics.

“A lot of challenges for copyright protection face indigenous communities,” Yu said. “They’re not asking for the protection of natural resources, but for the protection for the know-how on how to use those resources.”

As an example, Yu mentioned the rosy periwinkle flower of Madagascar, which the natives had always used for medicine. A pharmaceutical company came to Madagascar and is now using the flower for cancer relief purposes. The native tribe receives no money.

Article I of the United States Constitution addresses copyright law and states that “Congress shall have the power . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

The problem with this, Yu said, is the Constitution suggests that the science or “useful art” has a definite author. Yu said many indigenous tribes have passed on knowledge orally, and the true origin of the information is unknown. This makes the information intangible and very difficult to protect.

“We need to figure out who the authors are. Sometimes there is a tribe of 10,000 people, and it’s very difficult to find who the author is,” Yu said. “We can broadly interpret the word ‘writing’ – sculpture and architectural work also get copyright protection.”

One possible answer to this problem that has been suggested in the international community is that all tribes should write down traditions in words, although Yu said this is not without problems.

“If you disclose what your culture’s most important cultural artifact is, then you are digging your own grave,” Yu said.

Yu claimed if these cultures wrote their traditions down, they would be targeted by businesses that are looking for indigenous remedies because they equate importance with value.

Another problem is that different cultures want different types of protections, Yu said. They may desire monetary compensation, recognition and authenticity claims. For tribes that want monetary compensation, it is hard to tell whether the government or the tribe is receiving the money.