Folk Art and Stylized Folk Art from the Perspective of Intellectual Property Law. Analysis on the Example of Two Polish Folk Song and Dance Ensembles, ‘Mazowsze’ and ‘Śląsk’

The use of folk art is quite common due to the timelessness and universality of this art. Hence, many artists around the world deal with folk art in their activities. Some do this by trying to imitate folk art as accurately as possible, while others are merely inspired by it or stylize it. The latter is the case with the two most popular Polish folk song and dance ensembles, ‘Mazowsze’ and ‘Śląsk’. The aim of the article is to analyze the legal status of folk art and stylized folk art from the perspective of intellectual property law, with particular emphasis on copyright. The first part of the article introduces the characteristics of Polish folk culture. The second part focuses on the definition of folklore and the problems related to the difficulty of unequivocally classifying given creations as folk or not. The third part analyses the legal protection of folklore. Particular attention is given to the copyright protection of folklore, although other means of protection are also indicated. The point of reference is the regulations from various legal orders. The fourth part covers the characteristics and legal assessment of the activities of the ‘Mazowsze’ and ‘Śląsk’ ensembles from the perspective of intellectual property law. Music, dance and costumes are analyzed separately. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the ensembles’ activities are to a large extent protected by intellectual property rights, primarily by copyright, and that the degree of protection depends on the degree of stylization. Another conclusion is that although folk art is in the public domain in most jurisdictions, including Poland, greater awareness results in attempts to regulate folk art differently.