The G20 Declaration and Intellectual Property
22 Sep 2023 | Newsletter
The G20 Presidency has placed India at a phenomenal position in the international realm and has showcased the world as to how India is one of the most sought-after nations. While the whole nation is basking with the impeccable success of G20 Summit, we cannot sideline the notable G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration[1], which in its Preamble (point no. 30) envisages to protect intellectual property and emphasizes protection against over commercialization and misappropriation of living heritage on the sustainability and on the livelihoods of practitioners and community bearers as well as Indigenous Peoples.
The relevant extract from the Preamble is reproduced herein below:
“We encourage the international community to protect the living cultural heritage, including the intellectual property, notably with regard to the impact of the over commercialization and misappropriation of such living heritage on the sustainability and on the livelihoods of practitioners and community bearers as well as Indigenous Peoples.”
Further under Point 56, the Preamble of the Declaration, recognizes the instrumental role played by intellectual property rights for fostering innovations. It also emphasizes the recognition of personal data, privacy and protection for fostering of resilience and enabling service delivery. In furtherance to this vision, the G20 Declaration has released the G20 Framework for Systems of Digital Public Infrastructure.
The essential facet of this Framework includes:
- To build and maintain a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a virtual repository of DPI, voluntarily shared by G20 members and beyond.
- To take note of the Indian Presidency’s proposal of the One Future Alliance (OFA), a voluntary initiative aimed to build capacity, and provide technical assistance and adequate funding support for implementing DPI in LMICs (Low- and Middle-Income countries).
Harnessing responsible use of AI
Artificial Intelligence has gained unprecedented momentum in the past decade and forms one of the major driving forces behind the expansion of the global digital economy.
The G20 Declaration recognizes the essence of AI and declares to leverage AI for the public good by solving challenges in a responsible and human-centric manner. It cannot be denied that there are innumerable risks associated with negligent and unmonitored use of AI and recent incidents have shown that they can affect rights and safety of people. Hence, the Declaration emphasizes on the responsible use of AI that protects human rights, is transparent, favours privacy and addresses issues of data protection.
In furtherance to above, the Declaration reaffirms commitment to G20 AI Principles (2019) and ensures to make efforts to share information on approaches to using AI to support solutions in the digital economy.
Conclusion
It is encouraging to learn as to how the G20 Declaration underlines the substance to develop an intensive IPR ecosystem for fostering innovations and protecting cultural heritage. It also highlights the necessity of developing a global digital economy while addressing the impassible rifts that emerge on account of irresponsible use of AI. The whole Declaration makes us hopeful of a progressive future and truly signifies and is quintessential of G20’s Theme of “One Earth. One Family. One Future”