658 No. 33 Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions 2016 and cultural ownership or responsibility, established formally or informally by customary practices, laws or protocols. 15. (1) The protection of cultural expressions shall not be subject to any formality. Fomalrtresrelating expressions. Notwithstanding subsection (1), county governments shall collect information document and (2) register cultural expressions within the respective counties for the purposes of recognition. (3) The registration under subsection (2) shall be undertaken willingly by the owners of cultural expressions upon obtaining prior informed consent but shall not require the public disclosure of the cultural expressions concerned. (4) Where a community in Kenya shares cultural expressions with a corlmunity outside Kenya, the national and county government shall register the owners of the cultural expression in Kenya and maintain relevant records. (5) Where more than one community in the same or different counties share the same cultural expressions, respective country governments shall register the owners of the cultural expressions and maintain relevant records. (6) Where concurrent claims arise from different communities, national government or county government shall while determining the claim consider customary law and protocol of the communities in question, local information sources and any other means that may be applicable. (7) Registration shall have a mere declaratory function and shall not in itself confer rights. 16. The owners and holders of cultural expressions RishtorProtectnn' shall have the right to protection of those expressions. t7. Cultural expressions shall be protected against all ?-'ll':l-"1" acts of misappropriation, misuse, unlawful a"cess or :li,f:ji".' exPressrons' exploitation for as long as the cultural expressions fulfil the protection criteria set out in section 14. PART IV-GENERAL PROVISIONS 18. (1) A person shall not, in anv wav.' -J , ---J misappropriate, misuse, abuse, unfairly, inequitably or unlawfully access and exploit traditional knowledge and hotection of traditional cultural expressions. unlawful acts knowledge and !l'J.T31,.,."r",,o