Court confirms: chamber of commerce does not have database right to Trade Register
Amsterdam, Dec 22, 2021 – The Association for Business B2B Information (VVZBI) has won the lawsuit it filed against the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) . The KVK had announced it would enforce its alleged database right to the Trade Register against the association ‘ s members. The court has now ruled that the KVK has no database right to the Trade Register.
The KVK wanted to impose far-reaching restrictions on the use of public trade register information. VVZBI has consistently argued that the KVK has no such right and therefore should not regulate the market on that basis . “We have always been convinced that the reliance on database law was impermissible. We are pleased that this has now been confirmedby the court “, said Jeroen Kempers, chairman of the VVZBI.
Commercial register publicity secured
The existence of a database right requires that the KVK, as producer of the database, has made risk-bearing investments in the Trade Register. Kempers: “The KVK does not bear the financial risk of investments in the Trade Register: there is no economic incentive, the KVK is performing a statutory task. Moreover, it is regulated by law that the costs of the KVK that cannot be reimbursed from its income are covered by the central government.” The ruling creates clarity for VVZBI members and their clients, who need trade register information on a daily basis as part of, for example, compliance and credit insurance processes. This does not mean that re-use of trade register information is outlawed. On the contrary, existing legislation already sets all kinds of limits and conditions to such use, especially where privacy may be at stake. VVZBI members take those rules very seriously and, for example, have recently drafted a joint privacy code of conduct.
Important role of VVZBI members in economic life secured
Public information from the Trade Register is an important raw material for VVZBI members’ services. They deliver insights by structuring, analysing and enriching this information with data from many sources and self-developed data intelligence. In this way, they create transparency and trust in business between companies and contribute substantially to economic growth. In this, the VVZBI members, like the KVK, value legal certainty and privacy. Kempers: “We are very happy that the court has ruled in our favour. This ruling secures the (re)use of trade register information in economic transactions. Our companies have long played an important role in making all kinds of transactions in economic transactions legally certain and transparent. That role will therefore remain unaffected and our tens of thousands of customers will be able to use our information products for their business decisions unabated.”
About the Association for Business B2B Information
The Association for Business B2B Information was founded by six leading business information providers: Altares Dun & Bradstreet, CreditDevice, Creditsafe, Company.info, Graydon and DR3DATA. Together, they serve the vast majority of the Dutch credit and business information market. They support tens of thousands of companies in legally securing millions of business deals every year by providing reliable, complete and up-to-date business information. This information enables companies to make informed business decisions, identify opportunities and mitigate risks. Public business information is one of the main sources for this, enriched with information from other sources and in-house developed data intelligence. The association therefore strongly supports fast, technically functional and fair access to business information.
