Abstract: Disclosed is a silyl (meth)acrylate copolymer which comprises 20 to 80% by weight of (a) silyl (meth)acrylate constituent units (I), 0.01 to 40% by weight of (b) acrylic unsaturated monomer constituent units (II) and 5 to 79.9% by weight of Ĉ unsaturated monomer constituent units other than the constituent units (a) and (b). Also disclosed is a process for preparing the silyl (meth)acrylate copolymer, an antifouling paint composition comprising the copolymer, a coating film formed from the paint composition, a hull with the coating film and an antifouling method using the paint composition.