Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 2 / 2024

ISSN (Print) 2308-0361
ISSN (Online) 2519-2744

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/22024.305499

Submitted     2024-04-15
Accepted      2024-05-03
Published      2024-06-04

Tendencies in legal regulation of Internet intermediaries in the European Union

Kateryna Haidai
PhD student of the Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9141-1142

Abstract
The article provides a general description of the process of formation and subsequent reform of the European Union legislation regulating legal relations with the participation of intermediate service providers (internet intermediaries).

The study of the main EU regulations governing the activities of Internet intermediaries is carried out using the historical method. The author’s classification of the periods of development of EU legislation in the relevant area into three stages (periods) includes the period of formation of legislation governing legal relations involving Internet intermediaries, the period of transformation of the existing legal framework, and the latest period, which includes the adoption of regulations as acts of direct effect. The author highlights the peculiarities of the formation, development, and reformation of EU legal acts regulating legal relations involving Internet intermediaries. The author identifies and describes the factors that influenced the reform of legislation, and highlights the problems and judicial practice on this issue. The author describes, in particular, the ambiguous interpretation of the term “information society service”, the problematic nature of the so-called “safe harbor” regime, the vagueness of the obligation to report and remove illegal content, the uncertainty of the “duty of care” regime and the prohibition of general monitoring, which led to inconsistencies in the approaches of the judges of the European Court of Justice, and the difficulty of applying the provisions on exemption of Internet intermediaries from civil liability.

The author substantiates the general tendency of transformation of approaches to liability of Internet intermediaries, in particular, in the context of changing the so-called “safe harbor” regime towards strengthening liability and imposing on Internet intermediaries the obligation to take certain active steps to ensure intellectual property rights and other rights of users on the Internet, in particular, through the prism of key provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 and Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022.

Keywords: e-commerce, internet intermediaries, online platforms, EU legislation

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