The research report consists of two parts. The first is a comprehensive analysis of the legal regulation of open data in the context of EU law. The analysis focuses on the general legal framework for the publication of public sector information and open data, data rights and possible barriers that may stand in the way of further use of open data. In particular, the focus is on intellectual property rights and the protection of personal data. In general terms, appropriate solutions to these obstacles are also described. Throughout, the analysis focuses specifically on data from business registers. The second part of the research report presents licensing guidelines that serve as recommendations for dealing with potential conflicting rights when making open data available. The guides are also expressed in flow-chart form.