Article 25 of the Belgian Constitution does not only stipulate that the press is free and that (prior) censorship is not allowed; it also establishes a system of stepped liability for criminal prosecutions and civil liability.[1] Under this system, in principle only the author of a work, and not...

Source protection for journalists working in Belgium.  The Act of 7 April 2005 on the Protection of Journalistic Sources protects journalists from investigative measures (such as the interception of communication, surveillance and judicial home search and seizure) if this could breach the...

The general Competition Act of 10 June 2006[1] and relevant EU laws apply to the media sector. Structural media regulations almost exclusively target audiovisual broadcasting. The main broadcasting act for the Flemish Community is the Act of 27 March 2009 on radio and television broadcasting...

Parliaments involved in media policy. The main legislatures in the field of the media policy are the Community Parliaments, i.e. the Flemish Parliament and the Parliament of the French Community. The majority of media-related legislation concerns audiovisual media, rather than the written press or...

The Belgian Act of 23 June 1961 on the right of reply grants a broad right of reply to any individual or corporation named or implicitly referred to in a newspaper or a magazine, and a more limited right of reply to any individual or corporation named or implicitly referred to in an audiovisual...

The Parliament of the French Community of Belgium (also called the Parliament of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels) is currently holding its ‘States General of the Information Media’ (‘Etats généraux des médias d’information’), during which various media players and experts come together with...

Trademarks often list among the most valuable assets of your business. Therefore, it is important to properly protect your trademarks from infringement or generification. Below is an essential guide to trademark law in the Benelux, to help you properly protect your Benelux...

How to handle copyright infringement via 3-D printing? Should you stop infringement through cease-and-desist letters and litigation? Whom should you target? The individual 'downloaders'? The manufacturers of the printing machines? Or the providers of the printing services? Or should you rather...

The Italian competition authority sanctioned Ryanair for charging extra fees for handling online credit card payments. This is the third time since 2011 that Ryanair is sanctioned in Italy for this conduct. To learn more about this,...

If you are confused about the exact meaning of the two terms, read this interesting article: https://tudorlawfirm.com/the-difference-between-plagiarism-and-copyright-infringement/?goback=%2Egde_2276877_member_235898574   Author: Bart Van Besien Finnian & Columba Belgium bart@finnian.be