A legal remuneration scheme
Public lending right remuneration is also a legal remuneration scheme. Public libraries set up or recognised by the government can therefore lend out copyright-protected works (books, periodicals, etc., as well as CDs and DVDs) to library users without each time requiring the permission of the rightholder.
They are required to pay an annual fee to Reprobel for this. The competent minister determines the rate of that fee. He did so in a Royal Decree of December 2012. Some institutions (e.g. educational and research institutions, care institutions and institutions for the deaf, blind or people with reading disabilities) are exempt from payment.
Public libraries, as part of the public sector, must also settle their photocopies (under the legal remuneration scheme) and prints/digital reuse (via an additional licence) of copyright-protected works with Reprobel. More information can be found in the ‘Private and public sector‘ section.