Purpose
This page is dedicated to making copyright information for every country on earth available to the public. Although they are not countries, the list also includes entries for the European Union, Berne Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) which set minimum terms for their member nations or signatories. In addition, this list is sortable. That means that you can sort, in alphabetical order, by country, continent, copyright term after the authors death, copyright term based on publication, and the treaties the countries follow.
The Big Three
Sortable Information
- Country — Official country name by which is it most commonly known. For most countries, this will be English.
- Continent — Continent to which the country belongs. If there is more than one continent to which the country belongs, list the largest area of the continent to which the country belongs first.
- Copyright term for authors death — In the format Life + N years. Write "Life + 0" if it is not protected. Leave blank if it does not apply (e.g. Afghanistan).
- Copyright term based on publication — In the format N years. Write "0" if the work is not protected. Leave blank if it does not apply (e.g. Afghanistan).
- Treaties — Main copyright treaties which the country has signed (e.g. Berne Convention). List in alphabetical order. They must in the following standardized form:
If the country is not a signatory country, but does observe a treaty (or treaties), write the name of the treaty and the capitalized word "Observer" in parenthesis.
- Example: TRIPS (Observer)
Territories
