Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

tial. The right balance should be found by providing a spectrumof choices for creators and entrepreneurs on the onehand while enabling access to creative and intellectualcontent and the socio-economic and cultural benefits thatsuch access provides on the other.Other views remind us that developing countriesamong themselves are quite diverse with respect to theirsocial and economic environment and capabilities, and theimpact of copyright varies according to their socio-economiccircumstances. Therefore, a tailored approach could take intoaccount the diverse needs and capacities of developing countries,particularly the least developed countries, and ensurethat action is consistent with national objectives anddevelopment goals.In theory, all countries shape laws to fit their needs.However, while most developed countries have, in the past,moulded their copyright regimes to suit their particular economic,social and technological situations, developing countriestoday have relatively less policy space available under thecurrent international regime — although they should betterexplore the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement. Given thislimitation and the concurrent need that intellectual propertylaw must allow and even promote choice, and recognizingthat there is no one-size-fits-all model, some alternativesshould be considered, for instance, to develop and use copyrightedand other intellectual works that fall into the “somerights reserved” and “free/open” categories, in between theextremes of the “public domain” and “all rights reserved”works. This does not mean that traditional copyright worksor the public domain should be disfavoured but that theymay provide nuanced economic options to authors, innovatorsand entrepreneurs, be they individuals, organizationsor firms.In this sense, intellectual property can offer a range oftools that can address, in a complementary way, botheconomic and cultural concerns, reinforcing links betweencultural values and cultural valuables. Using the full spectrumof rights options, the copyright system can serve toadequately balance the incentives and rewards to creatorswith the issue of access in a way that truly promotes creativitywithout entering into contradiction with internationalintellectual property conventions.6The role of intellectual property in the creative economyCREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010187