Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights: Ethical Insights for Marketers

Abstract

Present copyright laws do not protect Indigenous intellectual property (IIP) sufficiently. Indigenous cultural artefacts, myths, designs and songs (among other aspects) are often free to be exploited by marketers for business' gain. Use of IIP by marketers is legal as intellectual property protection is based on the lifetime of the person who has put the IP in tangible form. However, Indigenous groups often view ownership in a very different light, seeing aspects of their culture as being owned by the group in perpetuity. Misuse of their cultural heritage by marketers in products often denies the Indigenous group a monetary benefit from their use and is frequently disrespectful. This article discusses ethical insights that might shed moral weight on this issue.

The law and ethics of ‘cultural appropriation’

“…Another formulation of Kant's Categorical Imperative is that you should ‘act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in any other person, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means’ (Kant, 1785/2003, p. 4:429). Some suggest that this is indeed the case here, since ‘[t]he telling part about cultural appropriation is the lack of consideration of the context you are taking the cultural piece from, and not asking permission for using it in that way’ (Bar-Yam, 2016, p. 6; similarly, also Kennedy and Laczniak, 2014). But, here too, this is not a matter of course: the motivation of cultural appropriation can also be an endorsement of this culture (e.g.…”

Cultural Appropriation in Historical Context: Native Americans in Firearms Advertising

“…These acts are said to constitute a form of colonialism. In addition to arrogating a great deal from Indigenous people in the United States, whites have been accused of appropriating elements of African American culture and, in Australia and New Zealand, of aboriginal art and Māori traditions (Kennedy and Laczniak 2014; Young 2005).…”

Marketing ethics, ethical consumers, and ethical lapses.

“…Incorporating Indigenous culture into marketing communications not only causes offense and potential harm to the Indigenous group (Kennedy & Laczniak, 2014) but can also lead consumers into associations with the offending brand that are erroneous. Such associations can lead consumers to assume that a brand is owned by the Indigenous group and to support it over competitors.…”