The Discursive Contributions of Debates on Intellectual Property and Human Rights

Abstract

In April 2020, a month after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published General Comment No. 25. This general comment provided an authoritative interpretation of the right to science—or, more formally, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Recognized in article 15(1)(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, this right was the last of the three rights in article 15(1) that the CESCR interpreted. The Committee released its general comments on the right to the protection of interests resulting from intellectual productions and the right to take part in cultural life in 2006 and 2009, respectively.

This chapter revisits the debate on intellectual property and human rights to explore questions that can facilitate the studying of the interactions between intellectual property law and other areas of law: How did we get here? When did the debate on intellectual property and human rights begin? What contributions have intergovernmental bodies, nongovernmental organizations, and academic commentators made along the way? Are there lessons that the intellectual property and human rights debates can teach each other—and if so, what are they?

This chapter begins by discussing the rise of the debate on intellectual property and human rights. It traces the beginning of the debate to the November 1998 panel that the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights co-organized to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Taking note of the edited volume's focus on the interface of intellectual property law with other legal disciplines, the second half of this chapter explores the discursive contributions of a robust human rights debate in the intellectual property area, a robust intellectual property debate in the human rights area, and a robust debate on intellectual property and human rights.