Statistics show that in Argentina, as in the rest of the world, there is a constant growth of piracy related to copyrighted works, making adequate copyright protection increasingly relevant.
In Argentina, Law Nº 11,723, as amended, protects scientific, literary, and artistic property.
Since the enactment of a subsequent law, computer software protection is expressly included in the protected works of this Law as well. Article 13 of the Law also protects foreign works (those previously published in foreign countries) regardless of the authors' nationality, provided that such authors belong to countries that recognise copyright. As a general provision, the protection term lasts during the life of the work's author, and for 70 years following his/her death in favour of his/her successors. The law and the courts have established that, in order to be protected, a work must contain a certain degree of originality.
Piracy is an infringement that is punishable by various sections of the Law. According to Article 71: "Anyone who, in any way or through any means whatsoever, defrauds the intellectual property rights recognized by this Act shall be subject to the punishment established by Section 172 of the Criminal Code.
Article 72 further states: "Without detriment of the general ruling of the foregoing Section, the following cases shall be considered as special fraud cases, and shall be subject to the above mentioned punishment, besides the sequestration of the illegal edition:
- Any person who either edits or reproduces through any means or instrument a work which up to the date remains unpublished or published without the authorization of the author thereof or his/her successors.
- Any person who has falsified intellectual works. In this connection, publishing a work already published with false mention of the name of the authorized publisher is a falsification.
- Any person who either publishes, sells or reproduces a work suppressing or altering the author's name, the title of the work, or fraudulently altering the text thereof.
- Any person who either publishes or reproduces a higher number of copies than those authorized.
The Law also provides for injunctions in cases of copyright infringement.
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