Beyond the AI-copyright wars: towards European dataset law?

The advent of generative AI raises profound questions about the ownership not only of data but also of data sets. European law has, in the main, sought to address these questions through the lens of copyright law in an attempt to address what the creative sector sees as a blatant theft of its work. While this approach has its merits, this paper suggests that key issues might be better dealt with using the AI Act of 2024. The Act has created an outline of a conceptual approach which we tentatively call “dataset law”. This is a more effective tool for dealing with violations at scale than copyright as it accents the inherent (economic and non-economic) value of data sets rather than on individual damage. Unfolding our argument in the article we also reflect on the fact that while this ex ante approach may appear novel in magnitude, it follows a pattern of innovative EU legal solutions in copyright and other areas.