Copyright, fundamental freedoms and general public interest
Without remuneration for their creation and for the investments they have made, the production of authors and publishers would simply dry up. That is why copyright grants authors the exclusive right to the exploitation of their work. They may transfer or license this right, to a publisher for example. The copyright contributes directly to a modern knowledge economy. Without copyright the world would be a lot less interesting: no artistic creation, no innovative study materials, no scientific breakthroughs.
But at the same time copyright remains a means. It is not an end in itself. That’s why the law provides for exceptions to copyright. For example, to ensure that cultural heritage is preserved and the free collection of news remains possible. The copyright reconciles the interests of authors and publishers with those of society.
Exclusive exploitation right
The Copyright Act awards the rights holders of a protected work the right to exploit that work until 70 years after the author’s death.
The exploitation right of the protected work consists primarily of the exclusive reproduction rights (lending and rental rights included) and the right to release to the public. This means that it is only the rights holders or their representatives who can prohibit or authorise the use of their work. They also have the option to have their approval dependent on the payment of a financial compensation (royalty).
Legal exceptions
The Copyright Act provides legal exceptions to these rights. These breaches of the exclusive rights of the rights holders can be justified in light of fundamental freedoms or the general public good. For some exceptions the Copyright Act imposes the payment of remuneration to the rights holders, in order to compensate for the breach of their exclusive right. This is then a case of ‘legal licences’: the Copyright Act allows use subject to payment of equitable remuneration to the affected rights holders. In Belgium there are four legal licences:
- - Reprography
- - Public lending right
- - Private copy
- - The digital exceptions for education and scientific research.
In addition to their property rights, the author – and later his heirs – also has an inalienable moral right. This right allows the author to have his authorship of his work recognised (authorship right), to decide on the way and time that his work is made public (disclosure right) and to demand that his work not be changed or compromised (integrity right).
