Copyright is the right to protect an original and concrete work, so an idea cannot be protected for example.
When an employee creates a work that is exploited (e.g. marketed) by his or her employer, the employer may pay him or her royalties in return. This scheme is aimed at creative employees. This is the case, for example, for journalists, architects, graphic designers, communication agents, computer specialists, etc.
The advantage of using this type of income is that it benefits from a very advantageous tax regime.
Indeed, copyright income is not a professional income and is taxed at 7.5% up to about €16,500.00/year and then at 15%.
As an illustration, let’s take a computer scientist who creates software as part of her employment contract. She may receive royalties for the commercial exploitation of the software by the employer.
It should be noted that, provided certain conditions are met, a freelancer may charge copyright fees directly to his clients when he grants them the exploitation of a protected work.
