Indonesia merupakan negara multi etnis yang memilik banyak Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional. Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional lahir berkembang dan dilestarikan oleh suatu masyarakat tradisional yang dilakukan secara turun-temurun dari mulut ke mulut. Keberadaan Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional telah diakui baik secara nasional melalui sistem Hukum HKI dalam ketentuan Hak Cipta dan secara internasional melalui perjanjian TRIPs yang menjadi konsekuensi dari keikutsertaan Indonesia dalam WTO. Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional dari karakteristiknya dapat pula ditinjau menggunakan sistem hukum HKI lainnya yaitu ketentuan Indikasi Geografis dan ketentuan Desain Industri. Walaupun ekspresi budaya tradisional sudah dilindungi secara nasional dan internasional tetapi peraturan-peraturan tersebut masih belum mampu mengakomodir perlindungan Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional di Indonesia. Hal tersebut menjadikan ekspresi budaya tradisional rentan terhadap tindakan pemanfaatan dan eksploitasi di antaranya peniruan kain tenun Nusa Tenggara Timur oleh pihak lain secara melawan hukum. Kain tenun Nusa Tenggara Timur memiliki hak moral dan hak ekonomi yang oleh pencipta atau pemegang hak tersebut dapat memanfaatkan dan mengeksploitasi kain tenun Nusa Tenggara Timur sesuai dengan nilai-nilai luhur yang dihayati dan pada akhirnya lahir manfaat ekonomis dari pemanfaatan tersebut.Melalui penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan bersifat yuridis normatif, penulis mengkaji kaidah atau asas hukum yang berhubungan dengan bagaimana pengaturan perlindungan hukum Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional kain tenun Nusa Tenggara Timur dalam sistem hukum HKI dan implementasi pengaturannya di Indonesia. Berdasarkan hal ini peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa diperlukan aturan bersifat sui generis yang spesifik dan terpisah mengatur mengenai Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional. Pemerintah Daerah juga turut serta dalam memberikan kepastian hukum kepada pencipta atau pemegang hak Ekspresi Budaya Tradisional kain tenun Nusa Tenggara Timur. / Indonesia is a multi-ethnic country containing numerous expressions of folklore. A expressions of folklore was born of, developed and preserved by a traditional society which practice them from generation to generation, passed on verbally. The existence of expressions of folklore has been recognized nationally through the intellectual property rights legal system in the Copyright regulation and internationally through the TRIPs agreement as a consequence of Indonesia joining WTO. From its characteristic, the expressions of folklore can also be reviewed using other intellectual property rights legal systems which are Geographical Indications regulation and Industrial Designs regulation. Although expressions of folklore have been nationally and internationally protected, those regulations are still unable to accommodate protections for expressions of folklore in Indonesia. Such case made expressions of folklore vulnerable to acts of utilization and exploitation such as imitation of handwoven from East Nusa Tenggara by other parties against the law. The handwoven of East Nusa Tenggara has moral and economical rights with which the creator or right owner can utilize and exploit the handwoven of East Nusa Tenggara in accordance to the noble values embraced, and eventually economic benefits emerged from the utilization. Through descriptive research with a normative juridical approach, the author studied the legal principles related to how the regulation of legal protections for expressions of folklore of handwoven in East Nusa Tenggara in the intellectual property rights legal system and the implementation of the regulation in Indonesia. On this basis, the researcher concluded that there is a need for a regulation with a sui generis nature which is specific and separated to regulate expressions of folklore. Local Government should also take role in giving legal assurance to the creator or right owner of the expressions of folklore of Handwoven in East Nusa Tenggara.