EU Digital Law

The European Commission adopted its Digital Single Market Strategy in May 2015. Three years later, legislative measures are emerging which aim to tackle the unique legal problems arising from the supply of digital content and which will shape the development of national and European law in the future. The Digital Content Directive is set to play a central rule in this development. Its provisions on conformity and remedies for non-conforming digital content concern the heart of the protection for the consumer. Its rules will not only have to be transposed into national law over the coming years but will also interact with existing provisions from the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU, the E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EU, and the Portability Regulation 2017/1128 in order for the legal framework on the supply of digital content to function.

The Commentary contains an in-depth, article-by-article analysis of core provisions concerning the supply of digital content: from the pre-contractual information duties and cancellation rights to conformity and portability of digital content. The contributors are legal experts from across the EU. Their comments give not only detailed explanations of the background and purpose of the provisions in order to assist interpretation, but also indicate potential difficulties and solutions in order to ease transposition and implementation of the rules on the supply of digital content. It will be an essential guide for legislators, practitioners and scholars.

Reiner Schulze is Professor of German and European Civil Law at the University of MunsterDirk Staudenmayer is Head of Unit "Contract Law", DG Justice and Consumers, European Commission and Honorary Professor at the University of Munster