The Finnish Copyright Act (404/1961) came into force in 1961 and has been updated 21 times since then. The Finnish and Swedish texts are published in the Statute Book of Finland. The most recent amendments to the Copyright Act were made in 2005 and 2006 and to the Criminal Code in 2005.

There are separate Decrees on the application of the Copyright Act (574/1995, last amended in 2005) and on the application of the Copyright Act to certain cases relating to the EEA countries (575/1995).

Copyright protects a literary or artistic work which meets certain conditions; no registration, notification or other measures are needed.

The Copyright Act protects works of Finnish origin. Works of foreign origin are protected under international treaties. International copyright treaties signed by Finland have been implemented nationally by separate Acts and Decrees.

Berne Convention

The Berne Convention (1886) on the protection of literary and artistic works is the most important international copyright convention. It is revised at twenty-year intervals. Under it, works originating in other countries must be given the same protection as domestic works. The Berne Convention is administered by WIPO. Finland ratified the Paris Act of the Berne Convention in 1986.

Rome Convention

Neighbouring rights are also governed by intergovernmental treaties. The International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, or the Rome Convention, is the basic treaty governing these right. Protection provided for in the Rome Convention must be given national treatment. It also safeguards certain minimum rights to each right-holder group. Finland ratified the Rome Convention in 1983.

WIPO Treaties

The international copyright system is supplemented by the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), which were signed in December 1996. These "internet treaties" of the digital age shaped the system to better meet the demands of the web environment. The Finnish Parliament adopted the treaties in autumn 2005 as concerns their implementation through legislation.

TRIPS

Finland has acceded to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS, 1994) which constitutes an Annex to the WTO Agreement. The TRIPS treaty, which took force in 1995, contains regulations governing the enforcement of intellectual property rights, i.e. industrial property rights and copyright.