Legislation on intellectual property resides with the Federal policy field of Economy. Since 2015, regulations on intellectual property — including copyright (“auteursrecht”, which then encompasses resale rights, lending rights, reprography rights, etc.) and related rights (“naburige rechten”) — are subsumed under Book XI of the Code of Economic Law, which replaces the older law of 30 June 1994 (“Wet betreffende het auteursrecht en de naburige rechten”). Through the years, these regulations have been adapted to European (and other international) Directives.
Artists can become a member of collective management organisations (“collectieve beheersvennootschappen”) to take care of the management of their copyright or related rights. These include Sabam (which gathers authors, composers, and publishers of different disciplines), Sofam (specialised in visual artists’ intellectual property rights), PlayRight (specialised in related rights of musicians, actors, dancers, and circus and vaudeville artists), deAuteurs (which gathers authors in performing arts, literature, and media), Simim (specialised in related rights of music producers), and Semu (which gathers publishers of sheet music).
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