Sharing Data, Sharing Content: Governing Digital Resources in the EU

How to approach the conundrum of data and content?This question is particularly pressing in the area of copyright law and the development of AI technology.The context is broad: ongoing litigation, with the example of the recently decided German case GEMA v. OpenAI, or the current case before the CJEU Like Company (C-250/25), emblematic for disputes in the publishing sector, application and potential revision of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM Directive), and enforcement of the AI Act.Sharing and facilitating access to and use of data are promoted in EU data law, while sharing content is a contentious issue reflected, for instance, in the case law of the CJEU on linking and communication to the public (e.g.C-160/15 -GS Media; C-597/19 -M.I.C.M.; or C-392/19 -VG Bild-Kunst) and in the provisions of the CDSM Directive on the use of protected content by online services (Arts.15 and 17).The goal of promoting data access and sharing is to some extent common to data and IP law.The vision of the single market for data is encapsulated in the European Strategy for Data of 2020 aimed at unlocking the potential of data, with the ambition of the EU to ''become a leading role model for a society empowered by data''.The main goals have been to foster data flows and ensure fair, practical and clear rules for access to and use of data.The Commission's communication on the intellectual property action plan of 2020 also included the goal of data sharing, as part of the broader objective of facilitating ''access to and sharing of intangible assets while guaranteeing a fair return on investment''.Both areas of law target enhanced innovation.It appears from the perspective of the evolving EU law on the digital single market that the main objective is not only innovation -new technologies, new tools, products or services -in the EU market, but to foster particularly those developed by EU companies.When this is not the case, as, for example, the Draghi