Seed Commons and Ownership: A Listening Session on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Organic Seed Alliance (OSA), Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) hosted this listening session to hear from farmers, seed growers, seed companies, plant breeders, and other food and farming stakeholders about issues they face with intellectual property rights (IPR) on seed. IPR decisions affect all growers, regardless of how they farm or garden (organic or otherwise) and have very real ethical and cultural implications for community seed systems.

Listening-session hosts invited participants to answer the following questions: How does IPR impact your farming operation, gardening pursuits, plant breeding, or research? What questions do you have about IPR, and what resources do you need? What resources do you already have? Are there opportunities for improving how IPR is used in the seed system? Input gathered directly informs future educational events and policy recommendations in 2021.

This video is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.