06/23/2024
In Canada, specific laws protect IP, including the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, the Trademarks Act, the Industrial Design Act, and the Plant Breeders' Rights Act. These laws set out the different types of IP, the nature of rights, criteria for protection, scope of protection, duration, among other things. In certain circumstances, these legal tools could be leveraged to protect Indigenous knowledge and cultural expressions.
In so far as names, signs and symbols are concerned, Canadian laws protecting trademarks and relating to unfair competition may be the most relevant:
Several Indigenous communities, organizations, and representative bodies in Canada have registered trademarks, certification marks, official marks and authenticity labels, including the Genuine Cowichan official mark and certification mark, the Igloo Tag trademark, and the trademarked Assembly of First Nations logo.
These marks often relate to traditional symbols and names, and are used to identify a wide range of goods and services, ranging from traditional art and artwork to food products, clothing, tourist services and enterprises run by Indigenous communities.
As many cultural expressions are literary and artistic works and performances, copyright and related rights may be relevant for their protection:
Protections available under the Copyright Act are used by Indigenous artists, performers, composers and writers for tradition-based creations such as wood masks and totem pole carvings of Pacific coast artists, jewelry, Inuit sculptures, and songs and sound recordings of Indigenous artists. There may also be scope for Indigenous communities and businesses to protect Indigenous knowledge as a trade secret pursuant to contracts and non-disclosure agreements.
Go to your Tribe/Nation/Settlement ask them for their registered trademark and use it on your indigenous artworks. Register with them as an artist of that trademark.
This way when art is stolen you then have a legal right to sue any company selling your arts.