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Sound sampling or music sampling is a currently widely used technique whereby sound fragments are copied electronically to use them, often in modified form, in a new (musical) work, usually with the help of a computer. However, sound fragments may be subject to various rights, as a result of which unauthorized sampling may be unlawful. […]

You have received a summons and must soon appear before the judge who will rule on your case or you may want to start a procedure yourself. When is hiring a lawyer to assist you in your legal dispute a choice and when is hiring a lawyer mandatory? The answer to this question depends on

Damage suffered at the hands of someone else, arrested by the police or wanting to stand up for your own rights: various cases in which the assistance of a lawyer is certainly not an unnecessary luxury and in civil cases even an obligation. But what exactly does a lawyer do and why is it important

Under certain circumstances, an employee whose employment contract ends is entitled to a legally determined compensation. This is also referred to as transition payment, which is intended to facilitate the transition to another job or for possible training. But what are the rules regarding this transition payment: when is the employee entitled to it and

A non-competition clause, regulated in art. 7:653 of the Dutch Civil Code, is a far-reaching restriction of the employee’s freedom of choice of employment that an employer can include in an employment contract. After all, this allows the employer to prohibit the employee from entering the service of another company, whether or not in the

Earlier we wrote a blog about the circumstances under which a bankruptcy can be filed and how this procedure works. Besides bankruptcy (regulated in Title I), the Bankruptcy Act (in Dutch the Faillissementswet, hereafter referred to as ‘Fw’) has two other procedures. Namely: the moratorium (Title II) and the debt restructuring scheme for natural persons

As an entrepreneur you enter into agreements on a regular basis. Also with other companies. General terms and conditions are often part of the agreement. The general terms and conditions regulate (legal) subjects that are important in every agreement, such as payment terms and liabilities. If, as an entrepreneur, you purchase goods and/or services, you

Can a judgment rendered abroad be recognized and/or enforced in the Netherlands? This is a frequently asked question in legal practice that regularly deals with international parties and disputes. The answer to this question is not unequivocal. The doctrine of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is quite complex due to various laws and regulations.

There are many things to consider when selling a business. One of the most important and most difficult elements is often the selling price. Negotiations can get bogged down here, for example, because the buyer is not prepared to pay enough or is unable to obtain sufficient financing. One of the solutions that can be

That a share merger involves a transfer of shares of the merging companies is clear from the name. The term asset merger is also telling, because certain assets and liabilities of a company are taken over by another company. The term legal merger refers to the only legally regulated form of merger in the Netherlands.

Once the decision to divorce has been made, there is much to be arranged and thus discussed. Divorcing partners usually find themselves in an emotional rollercoaster, making it difficult to come to reasonable agreements. It is even more difficult when there are children involved. Because of the children, you are more or less bound to

It is important that you have and maintain confidence in the Judiciary. That is why you can file a complaint if you feel that a court or a member of the court staff has not treated you correctly. You should send a letter to the board of that court. You must do this within one

The ruling of the District Court of The Hague in the case of Milieudefensie against Royal Dutch Shell PLC (hereafter: ‘RDS’) is a milestone in climate litigation. For the Netherlands, this is the next step after the groundbreaking confirmation of the Urgenda ruling by the Supreme Court, where the state was ordered to reduce its

There are several aspects to having a child with the help of a sperm donor, such as finding a suitable donor or the insemination process. Another important aspect in this context is the legal relationship between the party who wants to become pregnant via insemination, any partners, a sperm donor and the child. It is

If you are planning to transfer a company to someone else or to take over someone else’s company, you may wonder whether this takeover also applies to the personnel. Depending on the reason why the company is taken over and how the takeover is carried out, this may or may not be desirable. For example,

Intellectual property rights exist to protect your creations and ideas from unauthorised use by third parties. However, in certain cases, for example if you want to have your creations exploited commercially, you may want others to be able to use it. But how much rights do you want to give others regarding your intellectual property?

In addition to our general article on the Supervisory Board (hereinafter ‘SB’), we would also like to focus on the role of the SB in times of crisis. In times of crisis, safeguarding the continuity of the company is more important than ever, so that important considerations must be made. In particular with regard to

The Supervisory Board (hereinafter ‘SB’) is a body of the BV and the NV that has a supervisory function on the policy of the management board and the general affairs of the company and its affiliated enterprise (Article 2:140/250 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (‘DCC’)). The purpose of this article is to give

The statutory two-tier company is a special form of company that can apply to the NV and BV (as well as the cooperative). It is often thought that this only applies to internationally operating groups with part of their activities in the Netherlands. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case; the structure

Did the police detain you for days and do you now wonder whether this is done strictly by the book? For example, because you doubt the legitimacy of their grounds for doing so or because you believe that the duration was too long. It is quite normal that you, or your friends and family, have

In the Netherlands, maintenance is a financial contribution to the living expenses of the former partner and any children after a divorce. It is an amount that you receive or have to pay on a monthly basis. If you do not have enough income to support yourself, you are entitled to alimony. If you do

Every tenant has the right has two important rights: the right to enjoyment of living and the right to rent protection. Where we discussed the first right of the tenant in connection with the obligations of the landlord, the second right of the tenant came in a separate blog about rent protection. That is why

When you rent an accommodation in the Netherlands, you are automatically entitled to rent protection. The same applies to your co-tenants and subtenants. In principle, rent protection comprises two aspects: rental price protection and rent protection against termination of the tenancy agreement in the sense that the landlord cannot simply terminate the tenancy agreement. While

It is difficult to decide whether to get a divorce. Once you have decided that this is the only solution, the process really begins. A lot of things need to be arranged and it will also be an emotionally difficult period. To help you on your way, we will give an overview of all the

Until 31 December 2020, all EU rules were in force for the United Kingdom and citizens with British nationality could easily start working at Dutch companies, i.e., without a residence or work permit. However, when the United Kingdom left the European Union on December 31, 2020, the situation has changed. Are you a British citizen

A rental agreement has various aspects. An important aspect of this is the landlord and the obligations he has towards the tenant. The starting point with regard to the obligations of the landlord is “the enjoyment that the tenant may expect based on the rental agreement”. After all, the obligations of the landlord are closely

Alimony is an allowance to a former spouse and children as a contribution to maintenance. The person who has to pay alimony is also referred to as the maintenance debtor. The recipient of alimony is often referred to as the person entitled to maintenance. Alimony is an amount that you have to pay on a

Directors of a company should at all times be guided by the interest of the company. What if directors have to make decisions that involve their own personal interests? What interest prevails and what is a director expected to do in such a situation? When is there a conflict of interest? When managing the company,

2021 is a year in which a few things will change in the field of legislation and regulations. This is also the case with regard to transfer tax. On November 12, 2020, the House of Representatives approved a bill for the adjustment of the transfer tax. The aim of this bill is to improve the

Ownership is the most comprehensive right a person can have in a good, according to the Civil Code. First of all, that means that others must respect that person’s ownership. As a result of this right, it is up to the owner to determine what happens to his goods. For example, the owner can decide

In 2012, BV (private company) law was simplified and made more flexible. With the entry into force of the Law on Simplification and Flexibility of BV Law, shareholders were given the opportunity to regulate their mutual relationships, so that more room was created to adapt the structure of the company to the nature of the

The Trade Secrets Act (Wbb) has applied in the Netherlands since 2018. This Act implements the European Directive on the harmonization of the rules on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information. The aim of the introduction of the European Directive is to prevent the rule fragmentation in all Member States and thus to

Pregnancy, unfortunately, is not a matter of course for every parent with a desire to have children. In addition to the possibility of adoption, surrogacy could be an option for an intended parent. At the moment, surrogacy is not regulated by law in the Netherlands, which makes the legal status of both the intended parents

In practice, intended parents increasingly choose to start a surrogacy programme abroad. They may have various reasons for this, all of which are linked to the precarious position of the intended parents under Dutch law. These are briefly discussed below. In this article we explain that the possibilities abroad can also involve various problems due

When a child is born, the mother of the child automatically has parental authority over the child. Except in cases where the mother herself is still a minor at that time. If the mother is married to her partner or has a registered partnership during the birth of the child, the father of the child

To this day, the Netherlands has three legal forms of partnerships: the partnership, the general partnership (VOF) and the limited partnership (CV). They are mainly used in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the agricultural sector and the service sector. All three forms of partnerships are based on a regulation dating back to 1838. Because the

It regularly happens that employers have doubts about their employees reporting their illness. For example, because the employee often reports sick on Mondays or Fridays or because there is an industrial dispute. Are you allowed to question your employee’s sickness report and suspend payment of wages until it is established that the employee is actually

Divorce involves a lot The divorce proceedings consist of a number of steps. Which steps have to be taken depends on whether you have children and whether you have agreed in advance on a settlement with your future ex-partner. In general, the following standard procedure should be followed. First of all, an application for divorce

It is very annoying if your instructions are not followed by your employee. For example, the one employee on whom you cannot count on to appear on the work floor around the weekend or the one who thinks that your neat dress code does not apply to him or her. If this happens repeatedly it

What is alimony? In the Netherlands alimony is a financial contribution to the cost of living of your former partner and children after a divorce. It is an amount that you receive or have to pay monthly. If you don’t have enough income to live on, you can get alimony. You will have to pay