Belgium has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Belgium has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a comprehensive framework for data protection that applies to all EU Member States. Belgium implemented the GDPR in 2018 through the Act on the Protection of Natural Persons with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Book XII of the Belgian Code of Economic Law transposes the Directive 2000/31/EC. Chapter 6, "Liability of intermediary service providers", of the Belgian Code of Economic Law includes specific provisions related to a safe harbour for information service providers providing mere conduit, caching and/or hosting activities.
The Belgian Code of Economic Law does not require service providers to remove illegal content as long as they are unaware of its illegal nature. As soon as the provider is aware of the illegal content, there is an obligation to remove the content. Internet intermediaries are thus passive in their responsibility and liability for the content on their platforms.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
Book XII of the Belgian Code of Economic Law transposes the Directive 2000/31/EC. Chapter 6, "Liability of intermediary service providers", of the Belgian Code of Economic Law includes specific provisions related to a safe harbour for information service providers providing mere conduit, caching and/or hosting activities.
The Belgian Code of Economic Law does not require service providers to remove illegal content as long as they are unaware of its illegal nature. As soon as the provider is aware of the illegal content, there is an obligation to remove the content. Internet intermediaries are thus passive in their responsibility and liability for the content on their platforms.

Providers of electronic communication services have the legal obligation to identify their customers, as regulated by the Electronic Communications Act.

Art. 17 of Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive) mandates that providers of content-sharing services seek authorisation from rights holders and implement technical solutions to remove and prevent unauthorised uploads by their users (so-called upload filters), under penalty of losing their liability safe harbour. Further arrangements are envisaged for complaints and dispute resolution mechanisms. Such upload filters are reported to be a significant cost for online platforms. Graduated exemptions are expected to be put in place for new providers active in the EU for less than three years with a turnover under EUR 10 million and with fewer than five million users. The provision is subject to a challenge in the Court of Justice by Poland (C-401/19)
In 2022, the Chamber of Representatives adopted the Law Transposing Directive (EU) 2019/790, therefore making online content-sharing service providers partially liable for copyright violations on their platforms.

The EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) covers traditional broadcasting services as well as audiovisual media services provided on-demand, including via the Internet. Art. 13.1 provides for Member States to secure a minimum 30% share of European works in the catalogues as well as "ensuring prominence" of those works. "Prominence" involves promoting European works by facilitating access to such works using any appropriate means to ensure their prominence. The Directive has been implemented by Member States in different ways, ranging from very extensive and detailed measures to a mere reference to the general obligation to promote European works.
In Belgium, the EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services is implemented in the three separate language communities. An example is the Decree on Radio and Television Broadcasting (Flemish Community), which, according to Art. 157, requires the programme catalogues of non-linear television broadcasters (VOD) to include at least 30% European works, with a significant proportion being Dutch-language European works. Additionally, the Flemish Government may set quotas to define what constitutes a significant proportion of Dutch-language European works.
Moreover, VOD services providers must contribute to the production of Flemish audiovisual works either through direct financial involvement or by contributing to the Flemish Audiovisual Fund. These contributions support high-quality, independent Flemish co-productions in series format.
According to Art. 3 of Decision of the Flemish Government Concerning the Participation of Private Non-Linear Television Broadcasters in the Production of Flemish Audiovisual Works, each year by 15 February, VOD services providers must send a registered letter to the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), the Flemish Regulator for the Media, and the Flemish Government, specifying their chosen form of participation in Flemish audiovisual production and the corresponding financial contribution. If no letter or required documents are submitted, the broadcaster is automatically considered to have opted for a fixed financial contribution of EUR 3,000,000 to the VAF. This amount is indexed annually, starting from 1 January 2020, based on the price index as defined in the Royal Decree of 24 December 1993.

All incoming and outgoing invoices must be stored on Belgian territory for seven years. However, invoices which are stored electronically and which guarantee full online access to the data concerned in Belgium may be stored in another Member State of the European Union on condition that the fiscal administration is informed of this in advance (Art. 60 of the VAT Code). Moreover, taxpayers who are not established in Belgium must provide a Belgian address to the authorities where books, (copies of) invoices and other documents can be provided upon the request of the authorities (Art. 61, § 1 of the VAT Code). This also applies to digital documents.

Arts. 315 and 315 bis of the Income Tax Code require that the books and records necessary to determine the amount of taxable income must be kept by companies for seven years following the taxable period. The documentation must be kept in the taxpayer's professional or private premises where the administration can carry out the necessary inspection.

According to Title 1, Chapter 3 of Book XI of the Belgian Code of Economic Law (Art. XI.62), natural persons and legal entities who do not have a residence or actual establishment in an EU Member State must be represented by an authorised agent when appearing for the Invention Patent Office to file a request for a Belgian patent.

Belgium is a signatory of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

There is no general principle for the use of copyright-protected material comparable to the fair use/fair dealing principles. Directive 2001/29/EC defines an optional but exhaustive set of limitations from the author´s exclusive rights under the control of the “three-step test” in line with the Berne Convention that establishes three cumulative conditions to the limitations and exceptions of a copyright holder’s rights. The Directive has been transposed by Member States with significant freedom.
The Belgian economic code (Title 5 or Book XI) includes various exceptions to copyright. They only apply to lawfully published work. The interpretation is restrictive and follows the three-step test, although it is not literally incorporated into Belgian copyright law.

Belgium and the European Union have adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. Belgium ratified the Treaty on 30 May 2006, with its provisions coming into force on 30 August 2006. Subsequently, the European Union ratified the Treaty on 14 December 2009, and it entered into effect on 14 March 2010.

Belgium and the European Union have adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Belgium ratified the Treaty on 30 May 2006, with its provisions coming into force on 30 August 2006. Subsequently, the European Union ratified the Treaty on 14 December 2009, and it entered into effect on 14 March 2010.