Digital Business and Commercial Law

Dozent: Prof. Dr. Philipp Hacker The course will take place in room CP 102, on Thursday mornings from 11:15 am to 12:45 pm. Students will, however, also be able to join online via Zoom if they so wish. In the law, and in the digital economy, transactions between parties are primarily structured via contracts. The first part of this class will therefore provide an introduction to the law of contracts, including the formation of contracts, their validity, and the control of unfair contract terms, highlighting specifically the economic rationales for these doctrines. A particular focus will be placed on contracts that are relevant for the digital economy, including those for the supply of digital content and services. However, even if parties are not bound by contract, they still may have obligations toward one another under tort law. The second part of the class will therefore engage with tort liability specifically for digital products, such as for artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, or (other) types of software. Throughout the class, we will discuss and critically analyze not only existing law, but also novel proposals both from the EU legislator and from scholars. The course is limited in size to 13 students. Slots are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. ENS Students will be able to self-enroll in moodle. Law students may obtain a “fremdsprachliche Zusatzqualifikation”. Law students interested in the course are kindly requested to send a brief message to hacker@europa-uni.de with the subject line “Admission Contract Law”. The course is open to all students of the ENS and the law faculty. A certain background in law, for ENS students particularly the passing of the class “Introduction to the Law and Ethics of the Digital Economy”, is highly recommended, but not strictly required. The working language for the entire course will be English. 3 ECTS credits are awarded.