Mexico continues to suffer from “very high rates” of copyright piracy, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) assessed in its Special 301 2025 Report.

The White House agency added Mexico to the eighth position on its list of intellectual property rights concerns.

Copyright Piracy 

According to USTR, criminal enforcement in Mexico is limited by requirements such as demonstrating direct economic benefit or producing legal physical copies. 

On the civil side, barriers include lack of liability for internet providers, lack of pre-established damages, and judicial slowness.

USTR stated that the high rates of copyright piracy in Mexico occur through: 

• Online streaming.
• Peer-to-peer file sharing.
• Direct downloads.
• Streaming copying.
• Illicit streaming devices and applications.
• Video game and console circumvention devices.
• Physical media

ANAM

The USTR also considered that problems with counterfeit products persist in notorious markets such as Tepito, El Santuario and San Juan de Dios. 

Although IMPI carries out administrative actions, its effectiveness is limited due to budget cuts. 

In addition, ANAM cannot seize or destroy counterfeit products without prior authorization from the Mexican Industrial Property Institute (IMPI) or the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). Trademarks registered in bad faith continue to be a challenge.

The USTR reported that, during the last year, there were no investigations or criminal prosecutions for trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. In addition, the Attorney General’s Office has not presented statistics on intellectual property in the last five years. Almost five years after the entry into force of the T-MEC, a strong concern still persists. The protection and enforcement of these rights has not shown significant progress.

On the other hand, Mexico has not issued the regulations corresponding to the reforms of the Copyright Law or the Industrial Property Law. Likewise, several key issues are still pending. Among them are: the fight against piracy, intellectual property protection in the pharmaceutical sector, compensation for infringement, plant variety protection and digital rights.