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8 US-China Law Review 548 (2011)
Protection and Sustainability of Indonesian Traditional Knowledge and Folklore: Legal and Non-Legal Measures

handle is hein.journals/uschinalrw8 and id is 556 raw text is: PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF
INDONESIAN TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND
FOLKLORE: LEGAL AND NON-LEGAL MEASURES
Afifah Kusumadara*
The challenge toward the sustainability of Indonesian cultural
heritage demands urgent attention, as it has given Indonesia intangible
wealth which is equally important to other tangible economic wealth.
Indonesian cultural heritage which is in most part, represented by its
traditional knowledge and folklore (TKF), has been seen by the Indonesian
government only from its commercialization point of view. The government
effort to legislate the protection of Indonesian TKF is in major part, based
on the concept to protect the intellectual property (IP) and commercial
values of the TKF. This concept can be seen on the texts of the Bill of
Protection and Utilization of Intellectual Property of Traditional
Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expression. It means that the Bill does
not particularly aim on the preservation and sustainability of Indonesian
TKF that underlies Indonesian culture. The protection of Indonesian TKF
only from commercial misappropriation and misuse cannot prevent
Indonesia from losing its TKF and thus, losing its intangible wealth. This is
because Indonesian communities rarely see their TKF from its economic
aspect, but rather they see it from its spiritual value, way of life, cultural
identity, and social tie that unites the country. The economic aspect of TKF
will become apparent only if the TKF is well sustained. This paper argues
that the present Bill of Protection and Utilization of IP of TK and TCE will
be difficult to be implemented and accepted by Indonesian communities, if
the Bill only focuses the protection on the IP and commercial aspects of the
TKF. Besides that, the Bill will be unable to prevent the loss of Indonesian
TKF. Therefore, this paper argues that the Bill must broaden the scope of
TKF protection to include creating new efforts to preserve, sustain, and
respect Indonesian TKF, including its IP and relevant communities. To
successfully achieve its goal to protect Indonesian TKF, the government
must support the Bill with some legal and non-legal measures, such as:
Revitalization of Indonesian customary law (Adat law) that has often
guided Indonesian communities in managing their TKF; Documentation of
Indonesian TKF; Passing the Bill of Recognition and Protection of Adat
Communities; Education of government officials and courts who in majority,
SJD in Intellectual Property Law, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Brawijaya University,
Indonesia.
This article has been presented in the 8th Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference 2011. held in the
Faculty of Law, Kyushu University. Japan. Some amendments have been made to the original article
to incorporate feedback received during the presentation.

548

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