Copyright is an Intellectual property right (IPR) protected in statute in the Myanmar under the Copyright Law (2019). Other countries have their own legal systems for protection of copyright works. The law of copyright prevents the unauthorised copying of original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic content (often referred to as ‘works’) in any medium and in any territory. Such content would include software (programs and underlying code), novels, poems, plays, films, musical works and sound recordings, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures.

Copyright in Myanmar protects economic rights until and 50 years after the author’s death, 50 years after publication or creation of an audio-visual or cinematographic work, and 25 years after creation of applied artwork. Copyright comes into forces as soon as a work is created.