Do We Need Exit Rules for Traditional Knowledge? Lessons from Solomon Linda, and the Mbube/‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ Case'

24 Pages Posted: 9 Feb 2022

See all articles by Dalindyebo Bafana Shabalala

Dalindyebo Bafana Shabalala

Suffolk University Law School; Maastricht University Faculty of Law

Date Written: December 20, 2021

Abstract

Misappropriation of the traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions/folklore (TCEs) of indigenous and traditional communities has become an issue in the mainstream of intellectual property scholarship and policy. Many countries have put in legislation to address this issue. Much of this focuses on the idea that the means of protection should be addressed at actions by ‘outsiders’. In this paper, I pose the question of whether, in focusing on actions by outsiders, policymakers and scholars have minimized or elided the crucial role played by ‘insiders’ in the process of misappropriation. In this paper, I take what is considered a prototypical story of fundamental injustice done to an individual artist and the traditional Zulu community from which he came, the story of the song Mbube/The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Solomon Linda and use it as a case study to identify some of the questions that should be raised as we begin to re-examine other cases to understand what the role of insiders has been in acts of misappropriation of TK and TCEs.

Keywords: Traditional Knowledge, Solomon Linda, Folklore, Mbube, The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Suggested Citation

Shabalala, Dalindyebo Bafana, Do We Need Exit Rules for Traditional Knowledge? Lessons from Solomon Linda, and the Mbube/‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ Case' (December 20, 2021). Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3914377 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3914377

Dalindyebo Bafana Shabalala (Contact Author)

Suffolk University Law School ( email )

120 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02108
United States

Maastricht University Faculty of Law ( email )

Maastricht, Limburg

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