Traditional Knowledge Laws: Maldives

Subject Matter of Protection

An "expression of folklore" is a creation of groups or individuals which represents a group's traditions, its cultural and social identity, its standards and values that are transmitted orally, by imitation or by other means, including:
(a) Folk tales, folk poetry, and folk riddles;
(b) Folk songs and instrumental folk music;
(c) Folk dances and folk plays;
(d) Productions of folk arts in particular, drawings, paintings, carvings, sculptures, poetry, terracotta, mosaic, woodwork, metal ware, jewelry, handicrafts, costumes and indigenous textiles.

Section 4 - Derivative

(a) The following derivative works shall also be protected under this Act.
      (1) Translations, adaptations, arrangements and other transformation or modifications of works;
      (2) Collections of works, collections of data (databases) in whatever form, and collections of expressions of folklore that are original by selection or arrangement.
(b) The protection of any work referred to in Subsection (a) shall not in any way effect any protection of pre-existing work or expression of folklore incorporated in or utilized for the making of such a work.