The sui generis database protection and automated and connected cars - Will machine-generated data from automated and connected cars fall within the sui generis right if the proposed EU Data Act is adopted?

Abstract: The connected and automated car is performing more and more driving tasks autonomously. This produces a lot of data. The EU Database Directive gives non-original databases protection through the sui generis database right. Whether these databases with machine-generated data should be part of the scope of the right is unclear, depending on the interpretation of the right. The proposed EU Database Act includes Article 35 aimed at clarifying this legal uncertainty. This thesis examines the potential impact of the article on the sui generis right and how this will impact the possibility for databases from these cars to be granted this right. This is done by examining the technology of a connected and automated car through a literature study, focusing on the data obtained and generated by the IoT technology it uses, and examining the scope of the sui generis right as well as the potential interpretations and implications of Article 35 using an EU legal method. This is then applied to the context of a connected and automated car. The conclusion is that the car uses a combination of sensors, connectivity and the IoT to obtain and generate data to develop AI technology. The scope of the sui generis right in this context depends on the interpretation of “obtained” data and whether this includes “created” data. The potential adoption of the “spin-off” theory also impacts this. Article 35 narrows the scope if interpreted as clarifying the sui generis right and the right is assumed to exclude machine-generated data. If the right doesn’t exclude this data, then the Database Act is either making a subject matter change or not narrowing the scope. The car must be interpreted as collecting data and Article 35 as not narrowing the scope for these databases to receive sui generis right.