Reprobel declaration: mandatory or not?

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Did you receive a letter or email from Reprobel requesting (or reminding you) to file your annual declaration? We have some bad news: this declaration is indeed a legal obligation and will in most cases cost you at least €35 (in 2026).

On this page we tell you everything about the Reprobel declaration for Belgian sole traders and businesses.

What you’ll learn in this article:

• The letter or email about the Reprobel declaration is not a scam, but a genuine legal obligation for every Belgian business.
• Reprobel offers a licence for the digital reuse of copyrighted texts and images in both the private and public sector.
• There are two types of declaration: the reprography declaration (paper only, nil declaration possible) and the Bizili licence (paper and digital, no nil declaration).
• In most cases you will need to pay at least €35/year, unless you opt for a nil declaration.
• Not responding to Reprobel’s letter is not an option: doing nothing risks a fine.

1. What is Reprobel?

Reprobel is a Belgian management company that collects and redistributes fees on behalf of authors and publishers whose work is being copied. Think newspapers, magazines, books, newsletters, scientific articles and images.

Every time you as a sole trader (or an employee in your business) make a copy or screenshot of such protected work — on paper or digitally — the authors are in theory owed a fee.

Reprobel does not pay out those fees directly to individual authors. It works through affiliated management companies, each with their own distribution rules. Think of it like SABAM, but specifically for texts and images rather than music.

Until 2017, you automatically paid a Reprobel contribution when purchasing a printer or photocopier. That system was abolished. Since then, you are responsible for filing your own annual declaration.

What counts as a reproduction?

More actions than you might think fall under the Reprobel regulations. Examples that may occur in your day-to-day operations:

• Printing or photocopying an article for internal use
• Scanning a clipping from a newspaper or magazine
• Forwarding a news article to colleagues via email or Teams/Slack
• Saving images or texts on a server, hard drive or USB stick
• Showing protected content in a presentation (PowerPoint, Google Slides …)
• Copying pages from a professional book for training purposes

In 2026, it's no longer just about the classic photocopy. Digital reproduction has become at least as relevant in the average office environment.

2. What is the reprography declaration and are you required to pay?

The reprography declaration is the simplest form of the Reprobel declaration. It covers paper reproductions only: think photocopies and prints of copyrighted works such as articles, books and magazines.

Filing a declaration is mandatory for every business that receives a letter or email from Reprobel. Paying, however, is not necessarily required. If you don't make paper copies of protected works, you file a nil declaration and owe nothing. That nil declaration is mandatory though, because doing nothing at all risks a fine.

If you do make copies, you pay a fixed fee per page. The minimum amount is €35 per year and is tax deductible as a business expense.

Important: the reprography declaration covers paper use only. If you also copy or share digital content via email, a presentation or on social media, the reprography declaration is not sufficient and you will need the Bizili licence. With the Bizili licence (paper and digital use combined) a nil declaration is not possible.

Difference between the reprography declaration and the Bizili licence

Some professional organisations such as UNIZO also negotiate discount codes for the Bizili licence. It is therefore worth checking whether you are entitled to a reduced rate as a member of a sector or business organisation.

3. What if you never make copies or screenshots?

Suppose you work entirely digitally and never print or copy anything. It sounds plausible, but in practice it rarely holds true. Are you ever 'guilty' of any of the following?

• You share an interesting news article on LinkedIn
• You save a PDF report, or use a screenshot of a chart from the report in a presentation
• You use a photo from Google in an Instagram post
• You jump on the latest social media trend and adapt an existing meme to fit your business

Those are all reproductions of copyrighted work, even if it doesn't feel that way. The chance that a business makes truly zero reproductions is very small. Even a sole trader working entirely digitally unknowingly copies protected content in their day-to-day work.

That said, a nil declaration does exist: if you are genuinely certain that neither you nor your employees copy, print, forward or save any protected work, you can file a nil declaration via the reprography option.

You then owe no fee, but you are legally compliant. The key difference from simply ignoring Reprobel's letter: doing nothing risks a fine. Filing a nil declaration means you're covered.

4. Who needs to file a Reprobel declaration?

All Belgian businesses are required to file a Reprobel declaration:

• sole traders (primary or secondary occupation)
• liberal professions
• companies
• non-profit organisations
• public institutions

This applies regardless of your sector or the main activity of your business. Every year in the first quarter you will receive a letter or email from Reprobel with your personal login details and the applicable deadline.

What if I have never received a formal request to file a declaration?

There are a few possible explanations:

• Reprobel does not contact everyone at the same time: it is possible that your business is not yet in their system.
• You are new as a sole trader: starting businesses sometimes only receive a letter after one or more years. There is no fixed timing for new files.
• The letter was sent to an old address or the email ended up in your spam folder.

If you have never received a letter, you cannot file spontaneously via the portal. You can however contact Reprobel directly via reprobel.be/en/contact to clarify your situation.

5. How do you file the Reprobel declaration? (step by step)

Reprobel sends a letter or email every year in the first quarter with your personal login details and the deadline. Once you've received it, here's what to do:

• Step 1: Go to portal.reprobel.be and sign in with the username and password from the letter or email.
• Step 2: Check that the pre-filled details are correct: address, Nacebel code and number of employees. Update where necessary.
• Step 3: Choose your licence type. Select either the reprography declaration (paper only) or the combined Bizili licence (paper + digital).
• Step 4: Complete your declaration. Enter the number of relevant employees. Going with reprography? Fill in your gross volume of pages, or set everything to 0 for a nil declaration. Going with Bizili? Confirm your details (a nil declaration is not possible here).
• Step 5: Confirm and pay. Submit your declaration. If a fee is due, you can pay immediately online via the portal, or by bank transfer afterwards. You can also choose to receive an e-invoice (directly in Accountable). This payment is a 100% tax deductible business expense.

6. What if you don't file or file late?

Late or incorrect reprography declarations are penalised with an increased per-page rate. For digital copyright infringements, the penalty can amount to a multiple of the normal licence fee. This can quickly add up if you have missed several years.

Even if you think the declaration doesn't apply to you, you are still required to respond to Reprobel's letter. The nil declaration exists precisely to cover that situation.

Frequently asked questions about the Reprobel declaration (FAQ)

Author - Valesca Wilms

As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.

Who is Valesca ?