Rola reżimów regionalnych w ochronie niematerialnego dziedzictwa kulturowego ludów rdzennych i społeczności tradycyjnych – przykład Afrykańskiej Regionalnej Organizacji Własności Intelektualnej (ARIPO)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the African experience in developing legal protection for the cultural heritage of indigenous populations as a more effective solution than the measures relying on the prevailing UNESCO and WIPO paradigm. Historical and doctrinal legal research methodologies are applied to examine, in particular, the existing international law mechanisms adapted from the sphere of intellectual property law and – broadly understood – right to culture. The primary purpose of this paper is to assess the adequacy of protection of intangible cultural heritage afforded in those regimes compilation to the nature of ICH, and to identify the significant gaps that have been raised by indigenous populations representatives themselves. The research includes a comparative analysis of the development of relevant legislation in particular member countries. This analysis leads to a conclusion that ARIPO while introducing sui generis systemic solutions was instrumental to building the awareness of significance of the broadly defined intellectual property rights for the creators, cultures and national economies, and many of its solutions can serve as guidelines for other regions of the world in creating adequate and effective protection systems for the cultural heritage of their local communities.