Copyright legislation is the cornerstone for the legal protection of cultural goods and services. It is indispensable for the establishment of an environment that enables creativity and cultural industries’ growth.

This chapter provides information, for each of the countries listed below, concerning:

• Copyright laws
• Other anti-piracy related laws
• Summary of national legislation
• Membership of International Conventions and Treaties

Regions are presented based on a definition that is specific to UNESCO and refers to the execution of the Organisation’s regional activities.  The definition does not necessarily correspond to physical geography.

Africa
Algeria / Benin / Botswana / Burkina Faso / Burundi / Cameroon / Cote d’Ivoire / Democratic Republic of Congo / Egypt / Guinea / Lesotho / Madagascar / Mali / Mauritania / Mauritius / Morocco / Mozambique / Namibia / Nigeria / Senegal / Seychelles / South Africa / Togo / Zambia / Zimbabwe

Arab States
Algeria / Bahrain / Egypt / Jordania / Kuwait / Lebanon / Mauritania / Morocco / Oman / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / Syrian Arab Republic / Tunisia / United Arab Emirates

Asia and the Pacific
Australia / Bhutan / Cambodia / India /Japan / Kazakhstan / Malaysia / New Zealand / Pakistan / Papua New Guinea / Philippines / Russian Federation / Sri Lanka / Uzbekistan

Europe and North America
Albania / Andorra / Austria / Azerbaijan / Belgium / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Canada / Croatia / Cyprus / Czech Republic / Denmark / Estonia / Finland / France / Georgia / Germany / Greece / Hungary / Israel / Latvia / Lithuania / Luxembourg / Monaco / Poland / Portugal / Romania / Russia Federation / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Switzerland / The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia / Turkey / United States of America

Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina / Belize / Chile / Colombia / Costa Rica / Cuba / Guatemala / Honduras / Mexico / Peru / St Vincent and the Grenadines / Trinidad and Tobago / Uruguay

Please note that the country profiles are presented currently in the language in which information has been provided to the Secretariat by the Member States - English, French or Spanish. Most of the laws are presented in an official or unofficial translation in one of the official UNESCO languages, provided by Member States, and in some cases – in their original language.