A Study on Data Ownership

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As shown above, existing legal regimes have limitations in fully protecting data. Although new interpretive theories of ownership under the Civil Act exist, their legitimacy is hard to establish, so we have explored the necessity of recognizing data ownership under these circumstances. Although there are many skeptical views on data ownership, even those who take a negative stance on it appear to acknowledge that, ultimately, existing legal regimes are insufficient for protecting data.
However, given the rapid evolution of data-related technologies, it is preferable to respond flexibly by creating new forms of rights rather than force-fitting data ownership into existing property doctrines or applying property law by analogy. If a property‐law approach to data is somewhat onerous, it is also possible to initiate change by first utilizing laws such as the Act on the Regulation of Standard Terms and Conditions, which govern the contractual relationships in data transactions.
We now live amid the irresistible transformation of artificial intelligence, and since data as the fuel used in AI algorithms will clearly come to hold value comparable to goods of the industrial age, it is necessary in order to prepare for legal gaps concerning new types of data to grant data exclusive rights as we have recognized ownership of physical objects and to accord data proprietary claims analogous to property rights. Just as it took considerable time for the current intellectual property laws to come into being, legislation concerning data ownership is likewise in its nascent stage and requires sufficient time for discussion; therefore, debate over data ownership should continue in our society.
Recently, the debate over recognizing data ownership has shifted toward a more cautious stance. In the European Union, discussions on data ownership have concluded that granting exclusive rights to data may actually discourage data transactions, making it inappropriate to assign such exclusive ownership.
Even if data ownership were to be recognized, legislation should be designed to appropriately reflect the contributions of various stakeholders involved with data, address the concerns raised by opposing or cautious views on recognizing data ownership, and ultimately foster a virtuous cycle within the data transaction ecosystem.