Protecting Indigenous cultural heritage across borders: A Delphi study of international Traditional Cultural Expression laws

The World Intellectual Property Organization has been struggling with issues surrounding how to protect Traditional Cultural Expressions on an international level since 2000. Many iterations of legal principles for the international protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions have been drafted, commented on by member states, and revised. However, no binding treaty has been enacted. The purpose of this study is to gather a group of legal experts who are experienced in the protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions to determine the areas of consensus among them using the Delphi research method. The data reveals areas of national law that are doing the work of protecting Traditional Cultural Expressions within the borders of a particular nation, as well as national laws that could use some additional areas of protection or enforcement. The research team seeks to accurately summarize and report on the areas of agreement and disagreement among the international experts involved in this research.