Intellectual property rights in distributed information infrastructures

Technological change poses various social and legal challenges to information infrastructures. Who owns research data stored in a digital preservation repository? Who is liable if the data are lost? Who decides when the data may be deleted from a repository? What effects do technologies have on our basic rights? These and other questions concerning information law and research data management are addressed by the professorship for Intellectual Property Rights in distributed information infrastructures (IGR) that was established together with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

IGR analyzes copyright regulations and reform developments and derives recommendations for digital science including its infrastructure facilities. In addition to the legal research focus on (research) data, IGR develops copyright and licensing solutions for areas such as open access, software, big data applications, collaborative research tools, networked teaching formats and digital distribution of specialized materials.

Copyright and research data:
 

• Rights to data and databases
• Implementation of DSM-RL
• Issues of text and data mining
• Use of copyrighted material for research purposes
• License rights
• Reproduction photography in the public domain
• Material made accessible by institutions of the national cultural heritage
• Analysis of new laws and draft laws

Related projects

• in progress: NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Chem, SDC MoMaF and consulting: Statement on the implementation of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market – DSM Directive (NFDI4Culture).
• Finalized: RADAR

Data privacy law, research and IT security:

IGR accompanies technical projects and services by providing recommendations for the privacy-compliant and privacy-friendly design of new technologies, e.g. mobile applications and research databases, and makes recommendations for privacy-compliant research activities, e.g. the processing of personal data of volunteer test persons. The focus is on the rights of the data subjects.

• Implementing the GDPR and adapting infrastructures accordingly.
• GDPR-compliant transfer to non-member states
• Privacy impact assessment (Datenschutzfolgenabschätzung - DSFA)
• Protection of personal rights and guaranteeing these rights through data and IT security solutions in infrastructures and information systems
• Privacy by Design
• Consent of the persons concerned
• Data ethics

Related projects

• in progress: NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Chem, ITFLOWS
• finalized:  DSFA, STARR.

Data privacy law, privacy and AI:

IGR investigates further extensive data privacy relevant topics beyond the research context. In addition to legal issues related to data privacy, IT security and police law, research focuses on the legal and social implications of new technologies. IGR examines the current mechanisms of algorithm-based systems and outlines the resulting challenges and opportunities for the law. For the social acceptance of algorithm-based systems, it is essential to make their use, results and functionality legally secure, transparent and comprehensible. This also includes the analysis and consultation of national and international reform developments.

• Regulation of algorithms
• Implementation of basic principles of data privacy law in various areas
• Rights of the persons concerned
• IT security
• Legal issues related to Natural Language Processing, Predictive Analytics, Algorithmic Decision Making and crypto coins
• Data processing in the police sector, in particular, compliance with regulation 2016/680
• Legal remedies
• Analysis of new laws and draft laws in the field of data privacy and regulation of algorithms; data ethics

Related projects

• in progress: PANDIA, EIDI
• finalized: Algorithm transparency, Fundamental Rights Assessment, ITS.Overview, TITANIUM, ITS.APT and consulting: consulting on the strategy for artificial intelligence of the European Commission.

Germany

EU

Germany

EU

• GDPR commentary (with University of Luxembourg)
• LED Directive commentary (with University of Tilburg)
• DPI Bi-weekly Newsletter (with EDPL/Lexxion)
• CPDP Annual Conference (with Privacy Salon and VUB)
• Court hearings (Schrems Rechtsprechung)

• Dr. Dara Hallinan (finalized) – in collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussels
• Diana Dimitrova (in progress) – in collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussels
• Thomas Hartmann (in progress)
• Oliver Vettermann (in progress) – in collaboration with University of Leipzig

Every year professor Boehm organizes a workshop at KIT.