Hi all,
The text on Freedom of Panorama in Belgium that was adopted in committee two weeks ago is finally available online (FR & NL). [1] There were only minor, technical changes as compared to the version adopted in the first reading. Notably, "reproduction" was replaced by "reproduction or communication" in two places, which is very useful in regard to the EU's legal framework.
The Socialists and the French speaking Christian-Democrats proposed again to limit the exception to non-commercial uses only, which was rejected by 10-5 with one abstention. The same opposition then proposed a second amendment, asking for at least compulsory attribution when the images are being used commercially. This was again rejected 10-5 with one abstention. [2]
The entire text was adopted with an identical voting behaviour of 10-5 with one abstention. The majority is made up of Flemish Nationalists, Flemish Christian-Democrats and the Liberals from both language groups. This is also the governing coalition of Belgium. The Greens, who normally side with the Socialists in Belgian federal politics, abstained instead of siding with the opposition which they are part of. As part of the debate the Socialists kept bringing up the example of France, while the Liberals and Flemish Nationalists replied, that they intentionally chose to model the legislation after the Dutch and UK examples.