Anyone who wishes to manage a loved one’s emails, photos, social media accounts, and crypto wallet after their death will find that Belgian law currently lacks specific provisions on this matter. The Model Rules on Succession and Access to Digital...
Joris DeeneCan Belgium exempt subsidized independent schools from GDPR fines?
According to the opinion of Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona dated September 10, 2026, in Case C-458/25, Belgium may not exempt a private school that provides subsidized free education from...
Can a political party use a well-known brand to reinforce its message?
Not just like that. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, freedom of expression—including political satire—can be a valid reason to use a sign that is identical to or corresponds to a...
Can a judge reduce the termination fee specified in a franchise agreement?
Yes, but not under the rules governing liquidated damages. According to the Antwerp Court of Appeals, a stipulated termination fee is not a liquidated damage clause and is therefore not subject to the mitigation provisions of Article 1231 of the former Civil Code...
GDPR in the Workplace: What Does an Employer Need to Have in Place Today?
Ten years after the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation, an employer in Belgium must be able to demonstrate five things: a valid legal basis for each processing activity (consent is rarely sufficient), a data retention policy...
Can an AI model be trained on copyrighted texts without a license? The U.S. government takes a stand
In the United States, it is—at least according to the U.S. Department of Justice: training a language model on copyrighted texts is, according to the U.S. government, “fair use” in the...
Can a newspaper reproduce a Facebook post in its entirety as news?
Yes, but not necessarily. On September 3, 2026, the Court of Justice ruled that a short Facebook post can be a copyrighted work, and that Directive 2001/29 allows a member state to apply the exception...
Can the bank delay repayment following a phishing incident until the case has been resolved on its merits?
No. On September 1, 2026, the presiding judge of the Commercial Court in Antwerp, Antwerp Division, ruled in summary proceedings that Article VII.43 of the Code of Economic Law requires the bank to pay the amount of...
Will artificial intelligence eventually replace judges and lawyers?
No, and that shouldn't be allowed, says the First Advocate General at the Court of Cassation. On September 1, 2026, Michel Nolet de Brauwere devoted his opening address for the judicial year—the so-called "mercuriale"—entirely to...
When does an AI chatbot legally become a search engine?
As soon as an AI chatbot searches the web and reaches at least 45 million users per month in the European Union, the European Commission can treat it as a very large online search engine. That is exactly what happened on 31...
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