Intellectual Property Tools in Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Chinese Perspective

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is an invaluable treasure for human being and China is a country endowed with rich ICH. Among all the measures of safeguarding ICH, intellectual property (IP) tools are effective while controversial. As China started relatively late in the legal protection of ICH, the gap between legislation and judiciary needs to be filled in. This study examines the IP protection of ICH in China based on the current laws and regulations and then provides a semiotic approach to the relevant legal evolution in China. This study, taking in some experiences outside China, goes further to provide recommendations for improving the IP protection in China.