This is a list of different countries and the length of their standard copyright in years. Most countries now have copyright terms that are based on the death dates of the individual authors. Laws regarding anonymous works, corporate-authored works, non-literary works, unpublished works, or posthumous works vary per country. It is not intended to be used as a legal guideline since it cannot reflect the complexity of the copyright laws in effect at any one time and since copyright laws are changing continuously. It is intended only as an overview of the portions of the world which are under any particular style of copyright. See the "see also" and "external links" at the end of this article for more details.

Although they are not countries, the list also includes entries for the European Union, Berne Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention, which set minimum terms for their member nations or signatories. The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), though not included, requires a copyright length of at least 50 years after death.

Legend

• ibid. = ibidem, "in the same place"
• 0, no copyright = not copyrighted
• xx years after death = copyrighted for authors' lifetime plus xx years after their deaths
• xx years after publication, creation, etc. = copyrighted for xx years since publication, creation, etc., of works
• Until year end = copyrighted until the end of a calendar year, i.e. December 31

Table

Countries and areas	Terms of copyright protection	References
Afghanistan	0, no copyright	The first copyright law has yet to be passed.
Albania	Life + 70 years until year end	Arts. 17 and 21, Law no. 7564 of 19 April 1992, as modified by Law no. 7923 of 19 May 1995
Algeria	Life + 50 years until year end (except posthumous work)	Art. 54, Ordonnance n° 03-05 du 19 Joumada El Oula 1424 correspondant au 19 juillet 2003 relative aux droits d’auteur et aux droits voisins
Andorra	Life + 70 years until year end	Art. 18(1), (4), (8), Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 1999
Angola	Life + 50 years until year end Life + 25 years until year end (photographic works or applied arts)	Art. 20(1), Copyright Law n° 4/90, March 1990 ibid.
Anguilla	unknown
Antigua and Barbuda	Life + 50 years until year end	s. 10(1), Copyright Act, 2002
Argentina	Life + 70 years until year end	Art. 5, Ley 11.723 del 28 de septiembre de 1933, as modified by Ley 24.870 del 11 de septiembre de 1997
Armenia	Life + 50 years until year end (except posthumous work first published within 50 years after the author's death)	Art. 26, 1st paragraph, Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 12 January 2000
Aruba	unknown
Australia (including external territories)	Life + 70 years until year end Life + 50 years until year end (death before 1955)	s. 33, Copyright Act 1968 Australian Copyright Council Information Sheets G023 (Duration)
Austria	Life + 70 years until year end	§ 60, 62, 64, Urheberrechtsgesetz; § 1(2), Urheberrechtsgesetznovelle 1972 (Nr. 492, 1972-12-16)
Azerbaijan	Life + 50 years until year end (except posthumous work published at first time during 30 years)	Art. 25(1), (2), Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 5 June 1996
Bahamas	Berne
Bahrain	Life + 50 calendar years (except posthumous work)	Art. 31(1), Legislative Decree no. 10 of 1993
Bangladesh	Life + 50 years
Barbados	Life + 50 calendar years	s. 10(1), Copyright, Act, 05/03/1998, No. 4
Belarus	Life + 50 years until year end	Art. 22(1), (4), Law 194-3 of 11 August 1998
Belgium	Life + 70 years	Wet betreffende het auteursrecht en de naburige rechten van 30 juni 1994. (Hoofdstuk 1, afdeling 1, Art. 2)/Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins du 30 juin 1994.
Belize	Life + 50 years	s. 10, Copyright Act Ch. 252
Benin	Life + 50 years
Bermuda	unknown
Berne Convention signatories	Life + 50 years Until year end Signatories may grant longer terms.	Art. 7(1) Art. 7(5) Art. 7(6)
Bhutan	Life + 50 years	s. 18, Copyright Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2001
Bolivia	Life + 50 years	Art. 18, Ley No 1322 de 13 de abril de 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Life + 70 years	Art. 84, Law on Copyright and Related Rights (7/02)
Botswana	Berne, TRIPS, WCT	Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, Act No. 8 of 2000
Brazil	Life + 70 years	Art. 41, Law no 9610 of 19 February 1998
British Indian Ocean Territory	unknown
British Virgin Islands	unknown
Brunei	Life + 50 years	s. 14, Emergency (Copyright) Order 1999
Bulgaria	Life + 70 years (EU)	Art. 27, Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, last changed in 2007
Burkina Faso	Life + 70 years	Art. 34, Loi N°032-99AN portant protection de la propriété littéraire et artistique
Burundi	Life + 50 years
Cambodia	Life + 50 years	Art. 30, Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 2003
Cameroon	Life + 50 years	Art. 37, Loi no 2000/011 du 19 décembre 2000
Canada	Life + 50 years	s. 6, Copyright Act ( R.S., 1985, c. C-42 ); s. 7, S.C. 1997, c. 24
Cape Verde	Life + 50 years	Art. 19, Lei no. 101/III/90 de 29 de dezembro de 1990
Cayman Islands	unknown
Central African Republic	Berne, TRIPS
Chad	Berne, TRIPS
Chile	Life + 70 years	Art. 3, Law 19914 implementing free trade agreement with the US (2003)
China, People's Republic of (Mainland only)	Life + 50 years until year end (citizens' works)	Art. 21, first paragraph, Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China
Colombia	Life + 80 years Until year end	Art. 21, Ley 23 de 1982 Art. 28, ibid.
Comoros	Berne
Congo (Democratic Republic)	Berne, TRIPS
Congo (Republic)	Berne, TRIPS
Costa Rica	Life + 70 years	Art. 58, Ley de Derechos de Autor y Derechos Conexos modified by the Ley 7979 del 6 del enero del 2000
Cote d'Ivoire	Life + 99 years until year end	Art. 45(1), Loi no. 96-564 du 25 juillet 1996
Croatia	Life + 70 years	Art. 99, Copyright and Related Rights Act 197/2003
Cuba	Life + 50 years
Cyprus	Life + 50 years (EU, WCT)	s. 4, Copyright Law 1976
Czech Republic	Life + 70 years Until year end	Art. 27(1), Law No. 121/2000 Coll. Art. 27(7), ibid.
Denmark	Life + 70 years	s. 63, Consolidated Act on Copyright 2006
Djibouti	Life + 25 years (Berne, TRIPS) Until year end	Art. 59, Loi n°114/AN/96/3e L relatif à la protection du droit d'auteur Art. 65, ibid.
Dominica	Life + 70 years	s. 11, Copyright Act 2003
Dominican Republic	Life + 50 years	Art. 21, Ley sobre Derecho de Autor del 24 de julio de 2000
Ecuador	Life + 70 years	Art. 80, Ley No 83 de Propiedad Intelectual (1998)
Egypt	Life + 50 years	Art. 160, Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights
El Salvador	Life + 50 years	Art. 86, Decreto Legislativo No. 604 del 15 de julio de 1993
Equatorial Guinea	Berne
Eritrea	unknown
Estonia	Life + 70 years (EU); Counting starts from the beginning of the year following the author's death	§ 38, Edition of the Copyright Act effective since 01.01.2009 ; First enacted on 11.11.1992
Ethiopia	Life of creator	Title XI of the 1960 Civil Code
European Union members	Life + 70 years Until year end	Art. 1 (1), Directive 2006/116/EC Art. 8, ibid.
Fiji	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1999
Finland	Life + 70 years	Art. 43, Law No. 404/1961, as amended by Law No. 1654/1995
France	Life + 70 years until year end + 6 years 152 days for musical work published through 1920 + 8 years and 120 days for musical work published through 1947 + 30 years if the author died on active service	Art. L123-1, Code de la propriété intellectuelle Art. L123-8, ibid. Art. L123-9, ibid. Art. L123-10, ibid.
Gabon	Berne, TRIPS, WCT
Gambia	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956 (p)
Georgia	Life + 70 years	Art. 31, Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 22 June 1999
Germany	Life + 70 years	§ 64, Urheberrechtsgesetz, as amended by the Law of 23 June 1995
Ghana	Life + 70 years	Art. 12, Copyright Act, 2005
Greece	Life + 70 years Life + 70 years (audiovisual works) Until year end	Art. 29, Law 2121/1993 Art. 31(3), ibid. All previous references
Grenada	Berne, TRIPS	Copyright Act, dated 3 February 1989
Guatemala	Life + 75 years	Art. 43, Decreto No. 33-98, as modified by Art. 13, Decreto No. 56-2000
Guinea	TRIPS, WCT
Guinea-Bissau	Berne, TRIPS
Guyana	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956
Haiti	Berne, TRIPS	Decree of January 9, 1968, relating to Copyright in Literary, Scientific and Artistic Works
Honduras	Life + 75 years	Art. 44, Law on Copyright and Related Rights
Hong Kong	Life + 50 years (literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works with known authorship) Life + 50 years (films) Until year end	s. 17(2), Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) s. 19, ibid. All previous references
Hungary	Life + 70 years	Art. 31, Act No. LXXVI of 1999
Iceland	Life + 70 years	Art. 43, Act No. 73/1972, as amended by Art. 4, Act No. 145/1996
India	Life + 60 years until year end (literary, dramatic, musical, and non-photograph artistic works)	s. 22, Copyright Act, 1957
Indonesia	Life + 50 years	Art. 29, Law No. 19 of 2002
Iran	Life + 30 years	Art. 12, Copyright Law of 12 January 1970
Iraq	Life + 50 years	s. 2(11), Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 2004/83
Ireland	Life + 70 years	s. 24, Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000
Israel	Life + 70 years Until year end	Art. 5(4), Copyright Ordinance 1924 Art. 5(3), ibid.
Italy	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 25, Law No. 633 of 22 April 1941, as amended by Art. 17, Law No. 52 of 6 February 1996
Jamaica	Life + 50 years	s. 10, Copyright Act 1993
Japan	Life + 50 years Until year end	Art. 51(2), Law No. 48 of 6 May 1970, as amended in 2006 Art. 57, ibid.
Jordan	Life + 50 years	Art. 30, Law No. 22 of 1992, as amended
Kazakhstan	Life + 50 years	Art. 28, Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 1996
Kenya	Life + 50 years until year end (literary, musical or artistic work other than photographs)	s. 23(2)1, Copyright Act, 2001
Kiribati	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956 (p)
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of	Berne
Korea, Republic of	Life + 50 years Until year end	Art. 36, Copyright Act of 30 December 1989 Art. 40, ibid.
Kuwait	TRIPS	Decree Law No. 64 of 1999 concerning Intellectual Property Rights
Kyrgyzstan	Life + 50 years	Art. 27, Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 16 December 1997
Laos	0, no copyright	The first copyright law has yet to be passed.[82960]
Latvia	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 36, Copyright Law of 6 April 2000 Art. 28, Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 11 May 1993
Lebanon	Life + 50 years	Art. 49, Loi sur la protection de la propriété littéraire et artistique (no. 75 du 3 avril 1999)
Lesotho	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956 (p)
Libya	Life + 25 years with 50-year minimum (as of 1968; may have changed since)
Liechtenstein	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 32, Law of 19 May 1999 [Art. 36, [http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs_new/fr/li/li001fr.html Law of 26 October 1928]
Lithuania	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 34, Law No. IX-1355 (2003) [Art. 536, Civil Code as modified by [http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=24740 Law No. I-459 (1994)]
Luxembourg	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 9, Law of 18 April 2001 [Art. 2, Law of 29 March 1972]
Macau(b)	Life + 50 years Until year end	Art. 21(1), Decree-Law 43/99/M of August 16, 1999 Art. 21(3), ibid.
Macedonia	Life + 70 years	Art. 44, Law on Copyright and Related Rights No. 47/96 as amended
Madagascar	Life + 70 years	Art. 52, Loi no. 94-036 portant sur la propriété littéraire et artistique
Malawi	Life + 50 years	s. 13, Copyright Act, 1989
Malaysia	Life + 50 years	s. 17, Copyright Act 1987
Maldives	TRIPS
Mali	Life + 50 years	Art. 90, Loi No. 8426/AN-RM
Malta	Life + 70 years	s. 4(2), Copyright Act, 2000
Marshall Islands	0, no copyright	Copyright legislation is not known to exist.
Mauritania	Berne, TRIPS
Mauritius	Life + 50 years	s. 12, Copyright Act 1997
Mexico	Life + 100 years (effective 23 July 2003 non-retroactively) Life + 75 years (before the law change on 23 July 2003, applicable for deaths before 23 July 1928)	Art. 29, Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (2003) Art. 29, Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (1996)
Micronesia	Life + 50 years	§ 113, Federated States of Micronesia Code, Title 35
Moldova	Life + 50 years	Art. 17, Law No. 293-XIII of 23 November 1994
Monaco	WCT
Mongolia	Life + 50 years	Art. 17, Law on Copyright of 1993
Montenegro	Life + 70 years	Art. 100, Law on Copyright and Related Rights
Morocco	Life + 50 years	Art. 25, Loi no. 2-00 relative aux droits d’auteur et droits voisins
Mozambique	Life + 70 years	Art. 22, Law No. 4/2001
Myanmar	TRIPS
Namibia	Life + 50 years	s. 3, Copyright Act 98 of 1978, as amended by s. 3, Act 52 of 1984, s. 3, Act 125 of 1992 and by s. 52, Act 38 of 1997
Nauru	unknown
Nepal	Life + 50 years	Pustun Pradhan (2004). " Nepal's New Law on Copyright: Some Reflections", UNESCO e-Copyright Bulletin, January–March 2004.
Netherlands	Life + 70 years	Art. 37, Copyright Act, 1912, as amended by the Acts of 21 December 1995
New Zealand	Life + 50 years until year end (literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work)	s. 22(1), Copyright Act 1994
Nicaragua	Life + 70 years	Art. 27, Ley de Derecho de Autor y Derechos Conexos (No. 312)
Niger	Life + 50 years	Art. 22, Ordinance 93-027 of 30 March 1993 on copyright, related rights and expressions of folklore
Nigeria	Life + 70 years until year end (literary, musical or artistic works other than photographs)	Schedule I, Copyright Act (Cap. 68) 1990
Norway	Life + 70 years	s. 40, Act No. 2 of 12 May 1961
Oman	Life + 50 years	Art. 7, Royal Decree 37-2000
Pakistan	Life + 50 years	s. 18, Copyright Ordinance, 1962
Palau	Life + 50 years	s. 16, Republic of Palau Copyright Act of 2003
Panama	Life + 50 years	Art. 42, Ley No. 15 de 8 de agosto de 1994
Papua New Guinea	Life + 50 years	s. 17, Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000
Paraguay	Life + 70 years	Art. 47, Ley No. 1328/98 de Derecho de Autor y Derechos Conexos
Peru	Life + 70 years	Art. 52, Decreto legislativo 822 del 23 de abril de 1996
Philippines	Life + 50 years Until year end	s. 213.1, Intellectual Property Code s. 214, ibid.
Poland	Life + 70 years	Art. 36, Law of February 4, 1994, on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, as amended by the Law of 22 July 2000
Portugal	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 31, Code of Copyright and Related Rights, as amended by Decree Law No. 334/97 of 27 November 1997
Qatar	Life + 50 years	s. 15, Law No. 7 of 2002
Romania	Life + 70 years	Art. 27, Law No. 8 of March 14, 1996
Russia	Life + 70 years starting July 28, 2004 ( Source); Life + 50 years (death before 1953)	Art. 2, Law 72-FZ, 2004
Rwanda	Berne, TRIPS
St. Kitts and Nevis	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956 (p)
St. Lucia	Life + 50 years	s. 10, Copyright Act, 1995
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Life + 75 years until year end (literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work)	s. 8(1), Copyright Act, 2003
Samoa	Berne
San Marino	unknown
São Tomé and Príncipe	unknown
Saudi Arabia	Life + 50 years	Royal Decree No: M/41 2nd Rajab 1424 H August 30, 2003
Senegal	Berne, TRIPS
Serbia	Life + 70 years See Serbian copyright law	Art. 100, Law on Copyright and Related Rights
Seychelles	Life + 25 years until year end	s. 9(1)(i), Copyright Act, revised edition 1991
Singapore	Life + 70 years or if published after death 70 years after publication (literary, dramatic or musical work, or in an artistic work other than a photograph)	s. 28(2), (3), Copyright Act
Slovakia	Life + 70 years	§ 21, Law on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright (Copyright Act) No. 618/2003
Slovenia	Life + 70 years	Art. 59, Copyright and Related Rights Act of 30 March 1995
Solomon Islands	Life + 50 years	s. 3, Copyright Act (Ch. 138)
Somalia	unknown
South Africa	Life + 50 years until year end (literary or musical works or artistic works, other than photographs)	s. 3(2)(a), Copyright Act, 1978
Spain	Life + 70 years [Life + 80 years(1879 - 1987), Life + 60 years(1987 - 1994)]	Art. 23, Real Decreto 1/1996
Sri Lanka	Life + 50 years Until year end	s. 19(1), Code of Intellectual Property Act No. 52 of 1979 s. 19(6), ibid.
Sudan	Life + 50 years	s. 13(2), Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Act 1996
Suriname	Berne, TRIPS
Swaziland	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act No. 36 of 1912
Sweden	Life + 70 years	Art. 43, Act 1960:729, as modified by Act 1995:1273
Switzerland	Life + 70 years effective 1 July 1993 non-retroactively, but Life + 50 years for computer programs Until year end Life + 50 years (before the law change on 1 July 1993, applicable for deaths through 1942)	Art. 29 Urheberrechtgesetz/ Loi sur le droit d’auteur par. 2 Art. 32, ibid. BGE 124 III 266
Syria	Life + 50 years	Art. 22, Law No. 12/2001
Taiwan, Republic of China	Life + 50 years Until year end	Art. 30, Copyright Act Art. 35, ibid.
Tajikistan	Berne
Tanzania	Life + 50 years	s. 14, Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 1999
Thailand	Life + 50 years	s. 19, Copyright Act, B.E. 2537 (1994)
Timor Leste	Life + 50 years	Art. 29, Law No. 19 of 2002
Togo	Life + 50 years	Art. 36, Loi no. 91-12 portant protection du droit d'auteur, du folklore et des droits voisins
Tonga	Life + 50 years	s. 13, Copyright Act (Cap. 121)
Trinidad and Tobago	Life + 50 years	s. 19, Copyright Act, 1997
Tunisia	Life + 50 years	Art. 18, Loi no. 94-36
Turkey	Life + 70 years	Art. 27, Law No. 5846 of 5 December 1951
Turkmenistan	unknown
Tuvalu	Life + 50 years	Copyright Act 1956 (p)
Uganda	TRIPS
Ukraine	Life + 70 years [Life + 50 years]	Art. 28, Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 2001
United Arab Emirates	Life + 50 years	s. 20, Federal Law No. 7 of 2002
United Kingdom	Life + 70 years until year end	s. 12, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended by s. 5, Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995
United States	Life + 70 years until year end (works published since 1978 or unpublished works)	(a) and
Universal Copyright Convention minimum terms	Life + 25 years (general works)	Article IV 2(a)
Uruguay	Life + 50 years	Art. 14, Law on Copyright No. 9.739 of 17 December 1937
Uzbekistan	Life + 50 years	Art. 38, Law No. 272-I of 30 August 1996
Vanuatu	unknown
Vatican City	Life + 70 years	N. XII. Legge sil diritto di autore
Venezuela	Life + 60 years until year end	Art. 25, Ley sobre el Dercho de Autor as modified by the Decreto del 14 de agosto de 1993
Vietnam	Berne
Yemen	Life + 30 years
Zambia	Life + 50 years	s. 12, Copyright and Performance Rights Act, 1994
Zimbabwe	Life + 50 years until year end (literary, dramatic, and musical works; non-photograph artistic works)	s. 5(3), 6(3)(a), Copyright Act (Chapter 26:1)

Table notes

Terms of protection were taken from a variety of sources, including WIPO, UNESCO and the University of Pennsylvania (see External links). Where no more specific information is available for a country, an indication of its probable minimum copyright term can be gained from its status as:

• a signatory of the Berne Convention ("Berne"); minimum term of life + 50 years, except for photographs.
• a member of the WTO ("TRIPS"); minimum term of life + 50 years.
• a candidate for membership of the European Union ("EU"); term must be life + 70 years before accession.

Notes

1. http://www.goodwinprocter.com/~/media/A5C66A80AB93408C857813C59512C1BA.ashx
2. An audiovisual work is copyrighted in Andorra for the same term, computed from the last of the following persons to survive: the principal director, the author of the scenario, the author of the dialogue and the composer of music specifically created for the audiovisual work.
3. Literary, dramatic, musical or copyright artistic work.
4. A cinematographic work is copyrighted in Austria for the same term, computed from the last surviving person among the following: the principal director of the film and the authors of the screenplay, the dialogues and the musical work specially created for the cinematographic work.
5. Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work.
6. The Federal Republic of Germany is the successor state to the German Democratic Republic and to the German Empire
7. Computed from the last of the following persons to survive: the principal director, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue and the composer of the music specifically created for use in the audiovisual work.
8. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau have their own status, distinct from that of the rest of China, under international copyright and trade law
9. Computed from the last of the following persons with known identity to survive: (a) the principal director; (b) the author of the screenplay; (c) the author of the dialogue; or (d) the composer of music specially created for and used in the film.
10. See also Copyright in India.
11. UNESCO Culture Sector
12. Montenegro is assumed to have succeeded to the copyright obligations of Serbia and Montenegro. See Serbia also.
13. Including the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba: although Dutch adhesion to the Berne convention only applies to the Kingdom in Europe, membership of the WTO includes the overseas territories
14. Serbia is deemed to be a successor state of Serbia and Montenegro, which itself was a successor state to Yugoslavia for international copyright treaties, notably the Berne Convention, effective 17 June 1930
15. See also the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.
16. See also Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States by Peter B. Hirtle.

See also

• List of countries' copyright length based on publication and creation dates
• Official text copyright
• Rule of the shorter term
• Moral rights

External links

• Summary of copyright terms in various countries, with links to summaries or copies of national laws
• UNESCO Collection of National Copyright Laws with links to the official documentation for most listed countries
• The duration of copyright in various countries