Bruno Lowagie's Online Gazette

I almost broke the law without knowing there even was a law.

A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted about the first "iText in Action" review on Amazon:

@bruno1970 5 Nov

Does Belgium know that "Bruno Lowagie is a Belgian National Treasure!" http://tinyurl.com/iia-amazon

This tweet started a mail conversation about books. I explained that my first book was stored in the Library of Congress, but that in Belgium only the library of Ghent University had a copy (because I donated one). I received an immediate reply: in Belgium all books printed by Belgian publishers or written by Belgian authors are stored in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibliothèque royale de Belgique.
I visited the site and I found out that there's a law (dating from 2008) that states that every Belgian publisher has the obligation to donate two copies of each title to the library. If a Belgian author publishes a book with a foreign publisher, then it's the obligation of the author to donate two copies. I didn't know that. I could have sent the books by mail free of charge, but as I didn't know of the existence of the Royal Library, I decided to visit the Royal Library:

@bruno1970 19 Nov

On my way to Brussels. According to #crazybelgianlaw I have to donate two copies of my book to the Royal Library: http://kbr.be

@KrisBuytaert 19 Nov

huh .. what law?

@bruno1970 19 Nov

@KrisBuytaert Go to http://kbr.be and click "Wettelijk Depot".

@YvesHanoulle 19 Nov

@bruno1970 most countries have that law. Is that still true if you publish outside Belgium?

@bruno1970 19 Nov

@YvesHanoulle Yes. If you publish in Belgium, the law only involves the publisher. If you publish abroad, the author is responsible.

litrik 19 Nov

WTF? @bruno1970: On my way to Brussels. According to #crazybelgianlaw I have to donate two copies of my book to the Royal Library.

kpellegr 19 Nov

@litrik @bruno1970 didn't know that about belgian law, but the US has that as well #libraryofcongress

@bruno1970 19 Nov

Much to my surprise, the lady at the Royal Library was an acquaintance. Had a nice chat with her. I'm now officially & legally an author.

I received two pages with a stamp, one for my first book (dating from before the law) and one for the second edition. Now the Belgian state can no longer deny that I'm an author. I'll add a copy of the stamped forms to my tax form and I'll send a copy to the social security so that I no longer have to pay too much taxes on my royalties ;-)