Property Rights and Intangible Assets: Indigenous Theory and the Case of Indian Imagery

Abstract

This paper develops a theory‐building argument about the limits of property rights theory (PRT) when applied to culturally embedded intangible assets. Integrating property rights theory, organizational sociology, and Indigenous theory, we examine historically informed contrasts between low and moderate tribal sovereignty to show why tangible and intangible assets differ analytically in their governability. We argue that Native imagery reveals a class of contexts in which the specificity assumed by classical PRT becomes difficult to satisfy because authority is plural, asset boundaries are ambiguous, and value is relational rather than fully alienable. Using Native imagery as an illustrative case, we specify how PRT can be extended to better account for culturally embedded intangible assets by incorporating collective guardianship, community consent, sacred and relational inalienability constraints, and multi‐sovereign enforcement. In doing so, the paper reframes property governance in settings where meaning, spirituality, and community relationships are integral to the asset itself.