The beginnings of copyright law in Macau

This paper attempts to trace the history of copyright law in Macau from 1869 to 2001. In so doing it identifies two separate beginnings, each set in motion by external actions directed toward the territory, namely the extension of the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 to its overseas colonies in 1869, and the inclusion of Macau in the Special 301 Report of the United States Trade Representative between 1998 and 2001. By trying to show a discontinuity between the city's rich cultural history and the introduction of copyright law, it suggests that we cannot begin to understand this history without locating copyright law within the intricate network of internal and external forces that shape Macau's complex metabolism.