Gian­ni Fröh­lich-Bleu­ler, Eigen­tum an Daten?, in: Jus­let­ter March 6, 2017.

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Take-Aways (AI)
  • Data are not tan­gi­ble objects and do not give rise to pro­per­ty rights; they are pro­tec­ted by various are­as of spe­cia­li­zed law (con­tract law, data pro­tec­tion law, copy­right law, and cri­mi­nal law).
  • Gaps in pro­tec­tion should be clo­sed by estab­li­shing a new exclu­si­ve right; pro­per­ty law rules are unsui­ta­ble for data.

As repor­ted ear­lier, Mar­tin Eckert has expres­sed the view in the SJZ,

The func­tion­a­li­ty of the mate­ri­al con­cept advo­ca­ted by Wie­gand and the rea­li­ties and needs of the digi­tal eco­no­my allow for a Exten­si­on of the con­ven­tio­nal noti­on of sub­ject mat­ter to digi­tal data. The­se ful­fill the requi­re­ments of con­trolla­bi­li­ty and – inso­far as requi­red at all under Swiss law – phy­si­cal­i­ty. Digi­tal data can be sub­su­med under a slight­ly expan­ded con­cept of tan­gi­bles and can thus be the sub­ject of dri­ving pro­per­ty and possession.

Gian­ni Fröh­lich-Bleu­ler now con­tra­dicts this in today’s Jus­let­ter (Gian­ni Fröh­lich-Bleu­ler, Eigen­tum an Daten?, in: Jus­let­ter March 6, 2017.). He comes to the fol­lo­wing conclusion:

[para 31] Data are not things; the­re is no pro­per­ty right in them. They are pro­tec­ted in many ways by the legal system. This ran­ges from pro­tec­tion under con­tract law, cri­mi­nal law, data pro­tec­tion law and copy­right law to pro­tec­tion under unfair com­pe­ti­ti­on law. It remains to be cla­ri­fi­ed whe­ther this pro­tec­tion meets the requi­re­ments of the digi­tal society.

[If the­re were inde­ed gaps in the pro­tec­tion of data, the­se would have to be fil­led within the frame­work of a new exclu­si­ve right to be crea­ted. The legis­la­tor would have to take into account the cha­rac­ter of the data as a public good (with regard to the dura­ti­on of the pro­tec­tion right, limi­ta­ti­on pro­vi­si­ons, etc.). Howe­ver, the pro­vi­si­ons of the sub­stan­ti­ve law are not sui­ta­ble for the pro­tec­tion of data.

With the kind per­mis­si­on of the aut­hor, you will find the com­ple­te essay below (PDF):