International Legal Protection Of The Intangible Cultural Heritage

The development and prosperity of Chinese culture serves as an important base for the building of Chinese culture and Chinese spirit. It emphasizes on the exploration and protection of Chinese culture. The Intangible Cultural Heritage, being a vital component of that work, is of great significance, both theoretically and practically.UNESCO《Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage》has defined the connotation and extension of the Intangible Cultural Heritage , and laid the researching base for the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The characteristics of the Intangible Cultural Heritage include active state, inheritance, comprehensiveness, nationality and etc. These features are the embodiment of contact and distinction of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and other human heritages, so a good grasp of these features will help us understand and sort out the complicated relationship between the Intangible Cultural Heritage and other heritages of mankind correctly.Researching into the Intangible Cultural Heritage's basic legal issues is the basis of international legal protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. According to the attribution and protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage rights as well as the four principles of international protection, i.e. national full respect, sovereignty, benefit distribution, cooperation and assistance, the subjects of right of the Intangible Cultural Heritage can be divided into state subject, group subject and individual subject. Only on the base that the rights and interests of the subjects of right of the Intangible Cultural Heritage are protected effectively can the Intangible Cultural Heritage be truly protected. Therefore it must follow the concept of international protection, the principles of protection and the relevant international conventions to identify and protect the rights of various subjects of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Meanwhile, it is necessary to clarify the obligations and its main contents of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection.There are three protection models of the Intangible Cultural Heritage presently, namely, international human rights law model, international environmental law model and international intellectual property law model. International environmental law protection model is more mature and has the widest application. Its core is the list system of world heritages. Therefore, it is necessary for application for the list and strengthens exchanges between and cooperation with other countries in The Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection. In addition, the international intellectual property law model is a rising and practical system model for the protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. With the awareness in mind, we must strengthen the theoretical research of the intellectual property rights protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and energetically explore the protection system for it. At the same time, we must actively participate in the establishment and improvement of international intellectual property rights for the Intangible Cultural Heritage, safeguard the interests of our country and that of the other developing countries, and firmly resist cultural hegemony.In recent years, with the continuous enhancement of China's comprehensive national strength and the constant emphasis on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection, we have achieved a lot in participation in international protection practice of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Anyhow, we must further increase the input of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection, strengthen the theoretical research to protect the Intangible Cultural Heritage, speed up the legislative process for the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection, participate in international exchanges and cooperation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection in broader fields, and create a new situation of protection work of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.