The Human Rights Implications of Intellectual Property Protection

A variety of human rights organizations and agencies have begun to realize that the manner in which creative works, cultural heritage, and scientific knowledge are turned into property has implications for human rights. These concerns have led to a series of initiatives by United Nations human rights institutions, the most significant of which is the November 2001 statement on 'Human Rights and Intellectual Property Issues' adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Its central theme is that intellectual property protection and international trade regulation must respect and abide by international human rights law. This article outlines the provisions of a human rights perspective on the requirements for intellectual property and then discusses its potential conflicts with current developments in intellectual property law. Copyright Oxford University Press 2002, Oxford University Press.