The extent to which cultural activities can generate social and economic benefits for Indigenous communities, and the way in which those benefits are shared within communities depends largely on the way in which the system of intellectual property rights handles Indigenous cultural products. The aim of this paper is to address these issues, taking account of both legal and economic perspectives. Rather than taking concepts of intellectual property as given, we ask what kinds of intellectual property systems, if any, can best contribute to meeting the economic, social and cultural needs of Indigenous communities.