On the afternoon of 23 April, the third session of the Future Rule of Law and Digital Intelligence Technology Literature Reading Activity was successfully held in the conference room of the Legal Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the School of Law, Southeast University. The theme of this reading session was ‘Digital Property Rights: Rights Confirmation and Boundaries.’ The literature review was led by Associate Professor Ren Danli, along with Master's students Yu Xiaoya and Chen Jun from the Class of 2024 of the School of Law. Associate Professors Yang Jie, Xu Minchuan, Yu Tao, and Wang Yuan, as well as Associate Researcher Zheng Xiaojun and members of the Digital Law Team from the School of Law participated in the event.
During the event, Chen Jun, a master's student from the Class of 2024 at the School of Law, systematically introduced the core arguments of the two Chinese-language documents. The presentation began by examining the property attributes of data as a production factor, then delved into the necessity of ‘data rights confirmation’ and proposed institutional design recommendations. It also focused on interpreting the legal logic behind the transformation of ‘data assets’ into ‘digital property rights,’ proposing a new rights model based on control rights and rights bundles.
Yu Xiaoya, a master's student in the Law School's Class of 2024, introduced the content of the English-language literature. The literature analysed the British Your Response case and the New Zealand Dixon case to summarise the judicial standards for determining whether data possesses property attributes, namely, that data can be regarded as intangible property when it possesses exclusive control and economic value; it also proposed the evolutionary space for the definition of traditional property law objects and the theoretical and practical value of comparative law perspectives in the digital age.
Associate Professor Ren Danli analysed the core arguments of the Chinese and English literature, pointing out that literature review should not be limited to outline-style analysis but should also involve further reflection and expansion. Professor Ren discussed the relationship between ‘digital assets’ and ‘digital property,’ emphasising that legal protection for digital assets should be carefully argued within the traditional legal framework rather than hastily creating new rights. She also highlighted the ingenious way in which the English literature expands the concept of ‘possession’ within the traditional framework to explain data control rights.
During the discussion session, Associate Professor Yu Tao analysed the legal issues of data asset recognition from a corporate practice perspective, pointing out the importance of digital asset rights confirmation and the definition of owner's rights to modern enterprises. Associate Professor Wang Yuan compared Professors Zhang Xinbao and Cheng Xiao's ‘separation of person and property’ theory and explored the allocation rules of personal information rights and personality interests in commercial scenarios. Associate Professor Xu Minchuan analysed the normative value of the concept of ‘assets’ as a tool from the perspective of the evolution of the civil law system, emphasising the challenges posed by the phenomenon of rights separation in the digital age to legal regulation. Associate Researcher Zheng Xiaojun adopted a cautious attitude towards the creation of new rights, highlighting the need to clarify the compatibility between new concepts and traditional analytical frameworks. Associate Professor Yang Jie, grounded in pragmatism, distinguishes the mixed use of the concepts of ‘assets’ and ‘property’ in payment and circulation scenarios, emphasising the fundamental differences between data production logic and property rights logic. Doctoral student Zhou Yuheng from the Class of 2023 highlights the irreplaceable role of the legal regulatory system in the wave of technological regulation.
At the conclusion of the event, Associate Professor Xu Minchuan summarised the literature review session, providing detailed comments on the distinctive features and core highlights of both Chinese and English-language literature, and highlighting the theoretical depth reflected in different research approaches. The third session of the Future of the Rule of Law and Digital Intelligence Technology Innovation Literature Review Activity concluded successfully amid lively discussions among faculty and students.
(Chen Jun, Cui Rongzhen, Wei Han)