A---INCLUSION. Sui generis can’t incorporate western and customary law. Only amending the copyright act allows for indigenous autonomy and full copyright benefits. Recognizing culturally significant items as copyrightable is the only way to deter appropriation. That’s 1AC Steffe.

While sui generis protections address specific legal shortcomings, they merely accommodate customary law. Modifying the Copyright Act to incorporate, rather than separately address, these legal concepts fully recognize the value of TCEs as copyrightable material. Fusing concepts such as cultural patrimony into the fundamental tenants of copyright law would allow for an expanded understanding of authorship, as TCEs often represent this same level of cultural significance such that the community the TCE represents effectively “authored” it. This new category of authorship must operate in a limited scope, only extending to a work with such cultural significance that it exists indivisible from its holder. Following the 10th Circuit’s lead in Corrow and taking note from Australian jurisprudence, judge-made law can begin the process of recognizing communal authorship in the United States.

The current inability to identify an author because of the differences in customary notions of authorship leaves incredibly sacred Indigenous designs and garments entirely unprotected. By expanding the definition of authorship, the Copyright Act can accommodate TCEs within the existing framework, and possessing a valid copyright allows for full enjoyment of the benefits granted by the Act, such as an economic monopoly and standing to bring suit for infringement. Indigenous communities will also have the autonomy to make decisions about licensing and exploiting their designs, options foreclosed to works existing in the public domain. However, merely recognizing Indigenous designs as copyrightable only partially protects them from exploitation by mainstream fashion. To offer a wellrounded bundle of protections, the United States must explicitly recognize and enforce moral rights.