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UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Authors

Ronald Inawat

Abstract

What started out as a law school requirement quickly snowballed into an analysis of the relationship between intellectual property and cultural heritage. I am a music guy at heart, having played piano since I was five years old, having composed one song (after multiple tries), and now working directly with musicians and artists. So when I began researching a topic for an article that would connect the dots between the cultural heritage and its respective music, I could only come across legal doctrine and articles that focused heavily on tangible art and artifacts. So what happened to the music? After going down the rabbit hole of legal research regarding cultural heritage, I found very few articles analyzing the legal issues behind intangible cultural heritage, otherwise known as traditional and folklore music. So this Article does just that: explores the problematic legal issues involved with preventing the exploitation of intangible cultural heritage and suggests a methodology to fixing such problems. By delving into the various methodologies behind protecting and/or preventing traditional and folklore music, this Article breaks down the pros and cons behind each methodology in hopes of uncovering a solution buried underneath the rubble.

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