Category Archives: European Private Law
Santos, Morozovaite and De Conca, ‘No harm no foul: how harms caused by dark patterns are conceptualised and tackled under EU data protection, consumer and competition laws’
ABSTRACT Although several Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) studies have empirically investigated the harms caused by dark patterns, with policymakers and regulators regarding these harms significant, they have yet to be examined from a legal perspective. This paper identifies the individual, collective, material and non-material harms deriving from dark patterns, dissecting the role that harms play in […]
Almada and Petit, ‘The EU AI Act: Between the Rock of Product Safety and the Hard Place of Fundamental Rights’
ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) Artificial Intelligence Act (the AI Act) sets out a hybrid regulatory framework. The AI Act combines two classic traditions of EU law, namely product safety and fundamental rights protection. However, the proposed combination can fail if it does not account for the structural differences between the two legal traditions. This […]
‘Can a non-discrimination law lens enrich our understanding of consumer vulnerability?’
How to protect vulnerable consumers is one of the key issues of our time. The European ideal of a well-informed, observant and circumspect consumer that can reap the benefits of the integrated market made it necessary to recognise the needs of specifically vulnerable consumers. However, while EU strategic papers recognise the personal, situational and socio-economic […]
Kacper Szkalej, ‘Copyright Liability and Generative AI: What’s the Way Forward?’
ABSTRACT This paper examines the intricate relationship between copyright liability and generative AI, focusing on legal challenges at the output stage of AI content generation. As AI technology advances, questions regarding copyright infringement and attribution of liability have become increasingly pressing and complex, requiring a revision of existing rules and theories. The paper navigates the […]
Senftleben, Szkalej, Sganga and Margoni, ‘Towards a European Research Freedom Act: A Reform Agenda for Research Exceptions in the EU Copyright Acquis’
ABSTRACT This article explores the impact of EU copyright law on the use of protected knowledge resources in scientific research contexts. Surveying the current copyright/research interface, it becomes apparent that the existing legal framework fails to offer adequate balancing tools for the reconciliation of divergent interests of copyright holders and researchers. The analysis identifies structural […]
Temitope Omotola Odusanya, ‘Understanding ownership and possession in Scottish law: distinguishing chalk from cheese’
ABSTRACT This paper undertakes a critical examination of the nuanced distinctions between the legal concepts of ownership and possession within the framework of Scottish law. Property law in Scotland has a solid foundation deeply rooted in Roman law and the legal comprehension and context of ownership and possession is fundamental to it. Analogous to the […]
‘Belgium: A model for the transposition of the EU anti-SLAPP Directive’
In its judgment of 15 March 2022 in the case of OOO Memo v Russia, the ECtHR warned for ‘the risks that court proceedings instituted with a view to limiting public participation bring for democracy’. This approach referred to an earlier comment by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe calling for […]
Tereszkiewicz, Południak-Gierz and Walczak, ‘The Digital Vulnerability of Insurance Consumers and Personalised Pricing of Insurance Products’
ABSTRACT This Chapter analyses the phenomenon of the personalised pricing of insurance products under the European Union regulatory framework on consumer and data protection law. Specifically, focusing on the personalised pricing of insurance products, the Chapter explores the complex relationship between the provisions of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and those of the Unfair Commercial […]
‘European Copyright Society Opinion on Copyright and Generative AI’
Executive Summary: The ECS considers that the current development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), under the regulatory framework set up by the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) of 2019 and the AI Act of 2024 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), leaves legal uncertainties and several open questions. The following issues require, in the […]
Carmen Ungureanu, ‘The European consumer: a case of mistaken identity?’
ABSTRACT European consumers enjoy protection, if they are natural persons who act outside professional purposes and have as counterparts professionals (traders). Applying the test of the three conditions, it is possible that consumers who do not need protection to fall within the scope of the consumer protection laws. This is the reason why we are […]