Critical assessment of the EU law on resales of digital content
Simon Geiregat · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2022
The transferability of digital content is not exclusively an IP topic. Contracts and digital architecture are equally relevant hurdles. Besides, the debate on data ownership needs to be taken into account. Neither IP nor property law, nor ‘data ownership' allows acquirers to transfer downloaded data to a third party without copyright-holders' authorization. Instead, the equal treatment principle is essentially the only valid ground for courts to allow such transfers anyway, as implicitly shows from CJEU case law. When putting transferability into practice, consumer law and national law might take the lead. Subscribers to streaming services and other online access rights are often not entitled to transfer those rights. Nonetheless, they do have an interest to do so. New consumer law and unfair terms law might prove interesting to channel these interests. Moreover, legislative action can be considered to safeguard our capacities to transfer acquired digital assets in times of servitization.