Overview of Copyright Registration in Mexico and Its Impact on E-commerce Platform Customers

The copyright protection framework in Mexico is composed of several major copyrights, including: the Federal Copyright Law (Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor) and international treaties (such as the Berne Convention, WIPO treaties and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) jointly constructed to protect the rights of creators of original works. The Mexican Federal Copyright Law stipulates that the protection of literary and artistic works, the rights of authors include moral rights: protection of the personal connection between the author and the work (such as the right of authorship, the right to oppose distortion) and economic rights, such as the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, adapt and publicly communicate the work, etc. Economic rights usually last for 100 years after the author's lifetime, and also stipulates the mechanism of rights licensing, transfer and enforcement.

The government agency responsible for copyright matters in Mexico is the INDAUTOR, which manages copyright registration and enforcement. The principles it follows include:

• Automatic protection principle: Once a work is fixed in a tangible medium, it automatically obtains copyright protection. Although registration is not mandatory, registration can serve as proof of the existence and ownership of the work, facilitating prosecution.
• Principle of natural person authorship: Only natural persons (individuals) can be considered authors under Mexican law, even if the work was created for hire or under commission.
• Protection of Foreign Works: Mexico protects foreign works through international treaties, granting them the same rights as Mexican works.
• Exceptions to copyright: Contains exceptions such as fair use, which allow limited use of a work in a specific context without permission.

If the client is an e-commerce platform that intends to register product photos or illustrations in Mexico, copyright registration can prevent such images from being copied and used without authorization. However, it should be noted that copyright protects the specific form of the image, not the ideas or concepts contained in it, and does not directly grant exclusive rights to the product or design itself.

Beijing Yezhima will do its best to ensure that customers receive the best copyright protection in Mexico.