Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

What does Copyright mean? In legal practice, copyright protects how original creative works are used, licensed and monetised. It is a statutory intellectual property right that arises automatically on creation (no registration) and gives the owner exclusive rights to copy, issue copies to the public, perform, show or play, communicate to the public and adapt the work. Across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, copyright is defined and governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. In Ireland, it is governed by the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000. Protected subject matter includes literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, films, sound recordings,...

Hong Kong copyright: legal framework, exclusive and moral rights, infringement, civil remedies, and criminal offences and enforcement [Archived]

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer maintained. It was first prepared for LexisAdvance® Practical Guidance Hong Kong.

Legal principles

Although Hong Kong forms part of the People’s Republic of China, it operates an independent legal system and, accordingly, an intellectual property regime separate from Mainland China and distinct from the Mainland framework. The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini constitution, guarantees a high level of autonomy and the continuation of laws previously in force in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, Copyright is treated as a property right, recognised and safeguarded both by specific copyright legislation and by the Basic Law itself. The Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528) (CO), which broadly mirrors the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, commenced in 1997. However, for works created before the CO came into force, the Copyright Act 1956 still governs the determination of copyright Ownership and applies to such pre‑CO creations. At the constitutional level, pursuant to Article 6 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Cap 2101), the Government of Hong Kong has...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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