Editorial

• Author: Gerald Spindler
• Position: University of Göttingen
• Pages: 114-114

2019

Editorial

114

2

Editorial

by Gerald Spindler

© 2019 Gerald Spindler

Everybody may disseminate this ar ticle by electronic means and make it available for download under the terms and

conditions of the Digital P eer Publishing Licence (DPPL). A copy of the license text may be obtain ed at http://nbn-resolving.

de/urn:nbn:de:0009-dppl-v3-en8.

Recommended citation: Ger ald Spindler, Editorial, 10 (2019) JIPITEC 114 para 1.

1

This new edition of JIPITEC demonstrates how

digitalization has changed our society. The articles

cover many different topics, such as insurance law or

antitrust issues concerning smart car systems. The

rst statement by Pavis and Wallace challenges the

recommendations of the French Sarr-Savoy report,

which suggested that African cultural heritage

artefacts should be digitized before they are handed

back to African countries; the authors accuse the

French government of taking a double morality

stance concerning African material heritage in

contrast to (French) national heritage. Whereas

at rst glance it seems to be a narrow focus, the

statement sheds light on one of the hot topics in

culture law and restitution.

2 Two articles are dedicated to the ongoing struggle

regarding how to strike the right balance between

rightholders and liability of intermediaries. Whereas

Angelopoulos and Quintais plead for a reform of

the recently adopted DSM Directive by introducing

alternative compensation schemes instead of

extending accessory liability of platforms, Spoerri

deals in his article with the upload lter obligations

introduced by Art. 17 DSM, showing how they will

negatively affect content sharing platforms in the

EU. More fundamentally Haberstumpf analyzes the

aws of the jurisdiction of the European Court of

Justice concerning the right to make available to the

public – which is also the bottom line for the new and

highly criticized Art. 17 DSM directive.

3 Another ongoing discussion refers to key elements

of the GDPR: Zander/Steinbrück/Birnstill highlight

the relationship of the GDPR with antitrust and

competition law by using a game theoretical

approach, reaching the conclusion that the

measurement of privacy risks in an economic way

may be much more useful than the notions of “data

ownership”. Another aspect of data protection at the

crossroads with insurance law is dealt with in the

article of Thouvenin/Suter/George/Weber, namely

the use of big data in the insurance industry in order

to individualize insurance policies, which at rst

glance seem to contradict the principle of solidarity

that traditionally underpins the idea of insurance.

4

Another antitrust and competition law aspect

is at the center of Kerber/Gill’s article on the

recent reform of the Motor Vehicle Type Approve

Regulation concerning smart and connected cars.

They show how the new design of connected cars

could lead to distorted competition on markets, as

long as interoperability standards are missing.

5

Last but not least, Khuchua deals with patent

litigation and the huge differences across European

jurisdictions, including the impact on European

innovation eco-systems.

6

In sum, the new edition of JIPITEC once again reects

the dynamics of digitalization in the legal world. We

hope that readers will enjoy this new edition and

nd it intellectually stimulating.

Gerald Spindler, University of Göttingen