Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

6The role of intellectual property in the creative economybroadcast, communication, distribution or sales of worksand whose activities have not been included in the coreindustries. They include general wholesale and retailing, generaltransportation, and telephony and the Internet. In orderto fully capture the multiple effects that are produced bycopyright on the various economic activities, the WIPOapproach includes all four of the above-mentioned groups inany comprehensive survey of the creative sector.The creative industries encompass the narrower conceptof the “cultural” industries, which are regarded as thosethat produce products that have culturally significant contentthat is reproduced on an industrial scale (a term often usedin relation to mass media production). The creative industriesbroaden the field of the cultural industries to add allcultural or artistic production, whether live or produced asan individual unit and traditionally used in relation to liveperformances, cultural heritage and similar “high-art”activities. They also include, in addition to the “cultural”industries, all those industries that contribute indirectly tothe production, sale, performance, distribution, etc. ofprotected work.Creative industries have firmly established themselvesas a vital component of our societies and they increasinglycontribute to the development of national economies.Research has provided solid evidence of their growingimportance, and national decision-makers and opinion leadersare more and more aware of the economic importance ofthese industries. While contributing to cultural diversity andthe enhancement of social values, these industries are alsogenerating wealth, creating jobs and promoting trade. 3While the term “intellectual property right” is widelyused, as examined earlier, it should be pointed out that it isa general term for a number of rights: patents, industrialdesigns, trademarks, geographical indications and appellationsof origin, and copyrights. It is the latter two that are ofmost relevance to the creative industries although all intellectualproperty concerns apply to the creative economy.6.3.1 Geographical indicationsand appellations of originA geographical indication is a sign used on goods thathave a specific geographical origin (a village or town, a regionor a country) and that possess qualities or a reputation thatare due to that place of origin, including local human factors,such as specific manufacturing skills and traditions. Forexample, “Switzerland” or “Swiss” is perceived as a geographicalindication in many countries for watches.“Bohemia Crystal” indicates that the product is made inBohemia, Czech Republic, according to the region’s artistictradition. An appellation of origin is the geographical nameof a country, region or locality used to designate a productthat originates there and that has qualities and characteristicsthat are due exclusively or essentially to the geographicalenvironment, including human factors.The significance of geographical appellation is that ithas a linkage to the cultural milieu of production and waysof life. First, geographical appellation does recognize andhence legitimate a significance of a cultural tradition andprovide ways to protect it from misuse or simply copying.Second, it provides a means of branding products for sale aswell as places for tourists to visit. The French region ofChampagne is another good example. Therefore, geographicalappellation is an area deserving greater attention fromdeveloping countries in their efforts to further promote andprotect their traditional knowledge and expertise.6.4 Copyright and the creative economyCopyright is the area of intellectual property law thatprovides protection to original works of authorship, such aspaintings, sculpture, music, novels, poems, plays, architecture,dance, instruction manuals, technical documentationand software. Copyright laws give statutory expression to theeconomic and moral rights of creators in their creations andthe rights of the public in the access to those creations. Theyalso aim to promote, as a deliberate act of government policy,creativity and the dissemination and application of its resultsand encourage fair trading as a means by which to contributeto economic and social development.The concept of “copyright and related rights” is3 For data, see WIPO (2006), National Studies on Assessing the Economic Contribution of the Copyright-Based Industries, and the WIPO website: http://www.wipo.int/ip-development/en/creative_industry/economic_contribution.html.172 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010