IB2015/38 Intellectual Property Policy in Solomon Islands: Who is Really Playing the Tune?

This In Brief explores the drivers behind intellectual property policy in the Pacific Islands region through examining World Intellectual Property Day 2015 in Solomon Islands. It argues that this event, and the related official statements, illustrate the problematic way in which the plight of musicians and artists is used to further entrench Pacific Island countries into the global intellectual property regime (GIPR). Supporting artists and protecting cultural heritage are fundamentally important policy objectives, but it is important to consider whether such a regime will actually further these objectives, rather than just assuming it will. A detailed analysis of these issues is beyond this paper's scope (but see Forsyth and Farran 2015; Lipsett et al. 2014); the objective here is more modest to raise three considerations to demonstrate the need to question the widely assumed link between integration into the GIPR and the benefit to artists, musicians and the protection of cultural heritage.