Following years of negotiations, matters have finally moved forward: the Royal decree amending the royal decree of 18 October 2013 relating to the right to remuneration for private copying is in place for the new copyright levy system in Belgium and the binding date for entry into force is 1. April 2022.

Companies have to adjust their processes and take into account additional products and new tariffs when submitting their first reports after the date of entry into force of the amended legislation mentioned, on the one hand. On the hand, the calculation of levies on some products to end customer can be omitted, like: Analogue audio and video cassettes. One of the most significant changes is the introduction of a flat tariff for each of the products subject to levies, as opposed to those based on various storage capacities.

The challenge involved is in attaining clear product specifications and identifying the products in scope of the decree and those excluded from it. For example, consumer computers are specified in the scope but high-performance workstations aren’t mentioned. In addition, certain printers and those with multifunction are now back in scope after having been excluded since 2017.

Please forward your queries to: copyright@1cc-consulting.com