Intellectual Property and the Creative Industries in Asia (China and Singapore)

This article considers the transformation of intellectual property laws in Asia (particularly China and Singapore) as a result of external pressure to conform to the international Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ('TRIPS') standard in a short space of time. In particular, it examines the framing of these laws in light of concurrent creative industries discourses that have strengthened in the region in the last two decades. The article questions the role that 'creativity' plays in intellectual property ('IP') laws that have been imported from the West and considers the possibility of IP laws with 'Asian' characteristics.