THE PATH TO ESTABLISHING OWNERSHIP OF PUBLISHING DATA-- AN ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGES AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES

Abstract As the digital publishing industry continues to expand, publishing data has become a core strategic element driving industry innovation; however, the rapid increase in copyright disputes has exposed serious shortcomings in the data ownership system. This paper focuses on the challenges of establishing ownership rights for publishing data, analyzing three core issues: the mismatch between data attributes and market mechanisms, the overlap of rights among multiple stakeholders, and the ambiguity of data rights boundaries. It addresses these issues by drawing on the institutional logic of neighboring rights. The study argues that the demand for the property rights of publishing data aligns closely with the "investment protection" paradigm of neighboring rights. It proposes granting publishing data limited exclusive rights within the framework of neighboring rights, establishing a differentiated allocation of rights based on the three-party model of producers, processors, and disseminators, and supplementing this with arrangements for rights limitations---such as protection terms, fair use, and compulsory licensing---to achieve an institutional balance between incentivizing industry investment and promoting data circulation. The findings offer both a theoretical contribution to neighboring rights scholarship and a concrete institutional proposal for the reform of publishing data governance.