Updated
June 18, 2025
Published
June 18, 2025
Think of the last time you listened to a song by a foreign artist or streamed a new show produced outside your country. This was made possible by copyright, which helps creators connect with diverse audiences, supports the growth of creative industries worldwide, and contributes to a rich, interconnected global culture.
The U.S. Chamber’s 2025 International IP Index provides a roadmap for how to better protect copyrighted works globally. This year’s Index benchmarks the IP framework in 55 global economies across 53 unique indicators, reflecting the ongoing progress and challenges to securing effective IP protection and enforcement in economies worldwide.
The good news: The 2025 Index illustrates continued progress to strengthen copyright protection, with the average score in the copyright indicators increasing from 50.61% last year to 51.45% this year.
- In Latin America, the Brazilian government passed a new law that granted the National Cinema Agency the authority to suspend the use of unauthorized protected works. And in Mexico, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s copyright provisions.
- In Asia, the People’s Court of Hanoi in Vietnam issued the first criminal court conviction for copyright infringement, while the Philippine government introduced a voluntary program to disable access to copyright-infringing content.
- Meanwhile, in the Middle East, governments in the Gulf region introduced new mechanisms to restrict access to infringing content online. In North Africa, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment partnered with law enforcement in Egypt to disable access to a website that was a central distribution point for infringing content in Arabic across the region.
Why it matters: When governments take steps to improve copyright protection and enforcement, countries are more likely to receive a host of socio-economic benefits. For example, economies with the most effective copyright frameworks generate twice the amount of online and mobile content, have almost double the access to new music through secure platforms, and create more than twice as many streaming services.
What’s more: The development of creative content is also a key driver of economic growth. As the Chamber’s forthcoming literature review illustrates, in the U.S., the copyright industry supports over 12% of U.S. gross domestic product and $272 billion in exports. And the economic gains are not just limited to developed markets. WIPO estimates that copyright industries support 4.6% of GDP in developing markets, too.
The bottom line: Improving copyright protection will be critical to driving sustained economic growth, fostering cultural development, and ensuring creative content can continue to better connect the world.
About the author
Kelly Anderson
Kelly Anderson serves as vice president of international policy at the U.S. Chamber’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC). Anderson oversees the GIPC’s global advocacy efforts and leads the GIPC’s policy engagement in the multilateral organizations and developed economies.
