Copyright: keeping the rights to your code, content and designs
Copyright arises without any formality, and that is the problem: nobody checks who holds it until the day it matters. I put the chain of rights in writing, defend your works and secure the tax regime where it applies.
Brussels Bar lawyer since 2021, Certified data protection officer (Maastricht), Published fees
Why it matters
In Belgium, the employer is presumed to hold the economic rights in software written by an employee in the course of their duties. Article XI.296 of the Code of Economic Law states that rule. The presumption stops there. For a freelancer, a designer or a copywriter, nothing passes without a written document naming the assigned rights, modes of exploitation, term and territory.
An image or a text produced by artificial intelligence without human creative input is not protected by copyright. Your visuals, texts and code produced with an assistant are worth what your contribution is worth. Document it: working files, versions, direction choices.
The Belgian copyright tax regime was tightened in 2023 and remains disputed for software. It covers income from the assignment or licensing of works. More than a hundred applications for advance rulings are reported to be pending before the Belgian Advance Rulings Service. Waiting times run to mid-2027 (L'Echo, 4 September 2026). My view: no scheme without a written legal qualification of the works, and without the accountant involved from day one.
Typical situations
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A web agency that would deliver a site without an assignment clause
The client would pay for the site and would not own the code. A written assignment, signed before delivery, settles the question in one page.
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A studio that would pay its designers in copyright income without a written agreement
The tax authorities could reclassify the amounts as ordinary remuneration, with back taxes and social security contributions.
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A software publisher whose code would have been reused by a former contractor
It would first have to prove its rights (dates, deposits, contracts), then send a formal notice, before a cease-and-desist action before the Enterprise Court.
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A content creator whose texts would have been used to train an AI model
She could exercise a machine-readable reservation of rights and demand an account of the origin of the training data, which the AI Act requires providers to summarise.
What is included
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Assignment and licensing of rights
Employment, freelance and agency contracts: the rights assigned, the term, the territory, the remuneration.
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Software works
Qualification, chain of rights, proof of date through an i-DEPOT with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property.
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Content and creative work
Texts, visuals, videos, photographs; designs filed in the Benelux or in the Union.
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Infringement and copying
Evidence, formal notice, cease-and-desist action, descriptive seizure.
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Artificial intelligence
Reservation of rights, training data, generated content: what remains protectable.
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Copyright tax regime
Legal qualification of the works, assignment agreement, ruling file prepared with your accountant.
How it works
- 01
Scoping
A 45-minute video call to set out the problem and the options.
- 02
Written quote
Scope, fixed price and indicative deadline, before any work starts.
- 03
Delivery
I draft, negotiate or file, and I keep you informed.
- 04
Handover
Annotated deliverables, points to watch and the next deadlines.
Three ranges, a price fixed before the work starts
The firm uses artificial intelligence tools for research and first drafts, under a lawyer's control. The time they save is not billed: it is already reflected in these ranges.
- Clarify the rightsA freelancer, an employee or a contractor created code or content for you.Assignment clause or contract, review of existing contracts.Written cap
- Respond to copyingYour work is used without permission.Documented cease-and-desist letter for infringement, design filing.From €690
- StructureA business that lives from its code or content.Contract audit, assignment agreement, qualification note, tax ruling file with your accountant.On quote
The exact price depends on your matter. You receive it in writing after the first contact, which is free, and it does not change afterwards without your agreement. Amounts exclude VAT; official fees and disbursements are extra.
All ranges and how billing worksFrequently asked questions
Forty-five minutes to scope the matter, €120 excl. VAT
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A 45-minute video call, prepaid.
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A written report in five points within 24 working hours: the problem as you put it, the options, my recommendation, the budget for what follows, the timing.
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If you instruct me within 30 days, the €120 is deducted from the fee.