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Responsibilities for User-Generated Content

For all customers and partners: understand the legal context and responsibilities related to content uploaded to CHILI publish’s SaaS platform.

Note

This page provides general legal context and does not constitute legal advice.

Applicable laws and regulations

As a provider of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, CHILI publish is subject to several Belgian and European regulations that govern online services and user-generated content:

  • Directive (EU) 2019/790 — the DSM Directive (Digital Single Market)
  • Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 — the Digital Services Act (DSA)
  • Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
  • Belgian law — including contract law, intellectual property law, and general platform liability principles

CHILI publish provides customers with the ability to integrate, upload, and store content on its platform. The platform acts as a hosting service, meaning CHILI publish only stores content at the customer’s request and does not:

  • actively modify or use uploaded content, or
  • make that content publicly available to other customers or third parties.

Given this setup, the Digital Services Act (DSA) is the primary legal framework governing user-generated content on the CHILI publish platform.
Other obligations — such as those under copyright and data protection law — continue to apply.

CHILI publish obligations under the DSA

Under Article 3(g) of the DSA, a hosting service is defined as a service “consisting of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, the recipient of the service.”
Because CHILI publish’s platform stores customer content, it falls within this definition and must comply with several key DSA obligations:

1. Cooperation with authorities

  • Respond to lawful requests or orders from supervisory authorities or governments concerning illegal content.
  • Appoint a single point of contact for such communications.

2. Transparency

  • Provide information in its general terms and conditions about any content-moderation policies or restricted uses of the platform.
  • Publish annual reports describing its moderation practices.

3. Notice-and-action mechanism

  • Offer a process through which illegal content can be reported and addressed.
  • Clearly substantiate any decision to remove content or restrict access.

4. Limited liability

  • CHILI publish is not required to actively monitor user content.
  • Liability applies only if CHILI publish becomes aware of illegal content and fails to act appropriately.
  • Even when voluntary monitoring occurs, liability remains limited under Article 6 of the DSA.

Customer responsibilities

Customers remain fully responsible for ensuring that the content they upload to CHILI publish’s platform complies with all applicable laws, including:

  • Copyright and related rights (DSM Directive and Belgian law)
  • Data protection (GDPR)
  • Intellectual property (Belgian Code of Economic Law)

In practice, this means that customers must only upload lawful, licensed, and compliant material.

If CHILI publish becomes aware of illegal or infringing content, it will:

  • Remove or disable access to the content, and
  • Refer any third-party claims (including copyright or data-protection claims) directly to the responsible customer.

Note

Under the DSA, CHILI publish is a hosting provider, not a publisher.
Customers remain the primary data controllers and rights holders for all uploaded materials.

References