Since 19 June 2022, Belgium has had legislation introducing equitable remuneration for authors and performing artists when their work is made available through online services such as streaming platforms. Put simply, every time your music, performance or other work is played on a platform such as Spotify, YouTube or Streamz, you are entitled to remuneration for it, separately from any other agreements you may already have, for example with a record label. 

This right is non-transferable and is collectively managed in Belgium by PlayRight, which collects the remuneration and distributes it among rightsholders. 

Major players such as Google, Spotify, Meta and Streamz disagree and are challenging several provisions. They first brought the matter before the Belgian Constitutional Court, which, in September 2024, referred no fewer than 15 questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for clarification (see our previous article). 

On 6 and 7 July 2026, the hearing before the Court of Justice finally took place. PlayRight was there to defend the interests of its members. The rightsholders put forward a strong and convincing case. The opposing parties, on the other hand, relied on arguments that brought little that was new and were not always fully aligned with one another. 

We now have to wait for the next steps. On 19 November 2026, the Advocate General will deliver their Opinion. It will propose a solution and often provides an indication of the direction the Court may take. A few months later, the Court will deliver its final judgment. Only then will the Constitutional Court be able to conclude the case at Belgian level.