Reprobel is a cooperative management company licensed by the government. It offers a licence for the digital reuse of copyrighted texts and images in the private and public sectors (bizili by Reprobel). In these sectors, it also collects the legal reprography remuneration for photocopies of such works. In addition, as a unique one-stop shop Reprobel collects legal remunerations in the domains of education, research and public lending. Through its 15 member management companies and more than 40 international agreements, it ensures that rights holders receive a fair remuneration for the (re)use of their works.
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Give wings to your copyright compliance
Already more than 90,000 Belgian companies and public institutions enjoy bizili’s broad licence coverage and ease of use.
NEW: Compendium Belgian Copyright (NL) by Kurt Van Damme
In this impressive standard work of more than 1,700 pages, Kurt Van Damme, Head of Legal, Licensing & International at Reprobel, brings together his extensive knowledge of Belgian and European copyright law. Full of practical examples and with a surprising dose of humour. A real must-have for anyone who wants to explore copyright law in depth.
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INTERVIEW: copyright in the age of AI (NL)
What will tomorrow’s copyright look like in a world with AI?
Copyright is the silent engine of our creative and information economy, but has come under increasing pressure as generative AI continues to expand its influence. In this interview with Larcier-Intersentia, our Head of Legal, Licensing & International, Kurt Van Damme, shares his vision of the challenges and opportunities and exposes the obstacles.
Frequently asked questions
What is copyright?
Copyright is an intellectual property right, like trademark or patent law. For the rights holder, it is a temporary monopoly on exploitation; for the user, a temporary restriction. Copyright protects any creation of the human mind that is expressed in a tangible form and bears the personal stamp of the author. In other words: any creation that results from the author’s free creative or intellectual choices and is not trivial.
Any human creation that meets the conditions for copyright protection can thus be protected, including not only artistic works like literature, comics, art photography, paintings, or sculptures, but also informative works such as professional literature, educational or scientific works, news articles, and cartoons. Copyright protection is form-free and lasts until seventy years after the death of the last surviving author.
What is the Reprobel declaration?
Reprobel writes to businesses, self-employed people, liberal professionals, non-profit organisations and public institutions for their annual reprography declaration by mail or by letter. This declaration is a legal obligation as part of the renumeration scheme for photocopies of copyright protected texts and (art. XI.235-239 en XI.318/1-6 Code of Economic Law and two royal decrees of March 5, 2017 related to the reprography fee and the corresponding publishing fee).
Other than that, Reprobel also offers a practical and central licence for the most recurring forms of digital (re-use) of these kinds of works (bizili by Reprobel).
The Reprobel declaration for your organisation can be submitted through the online Reprobel declaration portal. Personal login and password for this portal can be found in the declaration request.
On the portal you have two declaration options. First you validate your client data. After, you can select the option that best fits the actual use (digital and paper) of copyright protected texts and images in your company (in the reference year related to your declaration).
o The bizili by Reprobel licence – covers the most recurring forms of reproductions, both digital re-use and on paper.
– One practical licence without separate negociating for each work separately, and for all of your employees.
– Additional bizili discount rate thanks to our 65+ sectoral agreements
– Very large licence coverage for Belgian works and an almost worldwide repertoire of international source works
o More limited reprography declaration – only covers photocopies of copyright protected texts and images
– Limited coverage – no digital coverage through Reprobel
– Zero declaration is possible if no photocopies of protected work are being made during the reference year (if digital use is of course individually arranged).
Do thorough research in advance about the real use of externally protected texts and images throughout your organization, and consider both options carefully. There are penalties for false declarations (reprography) and copyright infringements (digital world). The difference between these two options is clearly explained here.
Is the payment to Reprobel a tax or levy?
All forms of copyright remuneration are private-law compensations. They are therefore never a tax or levy. They ensure that rights holders (in Reprobel’s case usually authors and publishers) receive fair payment for the reuse of their copyrighted works, even in today’s digital environment. What Reprobel collects is distributed in full to the rights holders (after deduction of minimal operational costs), and does not go to the state.
Can Reprobel handle all copyright matters for me?
Reprobel can centrally manage a wide range of copyright matters for your organization, but not all. For both the private and public sectors, Reprobel can handle copyrights related to paper reproductions and the most common forms of digital reuse of copyrighted texts and still images—except where rights holders (individually or via their own collecting society) already offer separate licenses. (Examples: sheet music licenses via Semu, press content via License2publish or Copiepresse, or individual licenses for databases, photo libraries, or e-books.)
Reprobel does not offer licenses for music used by or in your organization—you should go to www.unisono.be for that. Copyrights for audiovisual works must also be arranged separately, usually via the producer. However, for statutory remunerations in the sectors of recognized education, scientific research, and public lending, Reprobel also represents the rights holders of sound recordings and audiovisual works.