Research projects
New Project on Algorithmic Contracts in Cooperation with the European Law Institute
In February 2022, Professor Busch has been appointed by the European Law Institute (ELI) as a Reporter for the new ELI Project on Algorithmic Contracts.
The two-year project, which is co-funded by the European Commission, will focus on the use of Algorithmic Decision-Making (ADM), in particular AI-driven learning systems, in the various stages of the contract lifecycle. The aim of the project team is to conduct first an "ADM readiness test" in order to assess the adequacy of the existing EU consumer law and, subsequently, to elaborate guiding principles and model rules for the use of ADM in contractual relations.
The project will be jointly lead by Professor Christoph Busch (Osnabrück), Professor Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballel (Madrid), Professor Christian Twigg-Flesner (Warwick), Professor Marie Jull Sorensen (Aalborg) and Professor Darius Szostek (Warsaw).
Granular Law Project - Granular society - Granular Law? Individuality and normative models in the data society
The digital transformation of the economy and society is giving rise to new business models based on the collection and analysis of large volumes of data on an almost daily basis. The spectrum ranges from personalized advertising and individualized insurance rates to personalized medicine. Meanwhile, from a sociological perspective, the dissolution of collective categories in favour of finely chiselled differences is described and the emergence of a "society of singularities"(Andreas Reckwitz) is diagnosed. Legal research into these developments has so far mostly focused on the question of what framework conditions the legal system sets or should set for the emerging data society. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that the "dataization" of the individual and their social relationships could also have far-reaching consequences for the architecture of the legal system itself and the way the law deals with individuality.
Up to now, the legal system has often resorted to typifying regulations based on normative models, such as the "average consumer" or the "reasonable person of average ability". The "personal equation"(Oliver W. Holmes) of the individual is generally not taken into account. From an economic perspective, typifications are primarily an instrument for reducing complexity costs. Under the conditions of big data, the question of the "optimal complexity"(Louis Kaplow) of legal norms and the granularity of the legal system as a whole could be answered anew. Until now, more justice in individual cases could only be achieved at the price of less legal certainty and higher complexity costs. In future, "granular" legal norms could enable a radical personalization of the legal system and redefine the relationship between justice in individual cases and legal certainty, individuality and equality in law.
As part of a five-year research project led by Prof. Dr. Christoph Busch, the aim is to understand the prerequisites and consequences of a possible "granularization" of the law in the data society. In cooperation with a group of international academics, a new and comprehensive research approach is to be developed that takes up the latest work on the "personalization of law" and combines it with historical-comparative, legal-theoretical, economic, sociological and media-theoretical research strands to create a new and overarching perspective.
The research project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation through a Momentum Grant ( 2019-2024).
Publications
C. Busch, Granulares Sachenrecht: Abschied vom numerus clausus im Internet of Things, in: Grothe/Mankowski/Rieländer (Hrsg.), Europäisches und Internationales Privatrecht: Festschrift für Christian von Bar zum 70. Geburtstag, München 2022 (im Erscheinen).
C. Busch, Granular Property Law: Recalibrating Optimal Standardization of Property Rights in the Internet of Things, European Legal Studies Institute Osnabrück Research Paper Series No. 22-01, 2022, Working Paper verfügbar auf SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4066461
C. Busch & A. De Franceschi (Hrsg.) Algorithmic Regulation and Personalized Law, C.H. Beck & Hart Publishing, Munich, Oxford 2021, 292 S.
C. Busch, Abschied von der Typisierung? Granularisierung von Rechtsnormen durch künstliche Intelligenz, Rethinking Law 2021, S. 67-69.
C. Busch, La mise en oeuvre de la personnalisation du droit: Les obligations d’information en droit de la consommation et la protection des données personnelles, in: G’sell (ed.) Le Big Data et le Droit, Dalloz, Paris 2020, S. 155-176.
C. Busch, 个性化经济中的算法规制和（不）完美执行 (Algorithmische Regulierung und (Un)Perfekte Rechtsdurchsetzung in der Personalisierten Wirtschaft), 41 Global Law Review 5 (2019) [Zeitschrift der Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]
C. Busch, Implementing Personalized Law: Personalized Disclosures in Consumer Law and Data Privacy Law, 86 University of Chicago Law Review 309-331 (2019). Working Paper verfügbar auf SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=3181913.
C. Busch & A. De Franceschi, Granular Legal Norms: Big Data and the Personalization of Private Law, in: Mak et al. (eds.) Research Handbook on Data Science and Law, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham 2018, S. 408-424.
Platform Regulation in Japan: Towards Regulatory Cooperation between the EU and Japan
On 1 February 2019, the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan (EUJEPA) entered into force, creating one of the largest open trade zones in the world. The EUJEPA not only creates a marketplace for 635 million people and almost a third of the world’s gross domestic product. It is also aimed at promoting common values and principles such as fair competition and consumer protection. Notably, the EUJEPA is the first EU trade agreement to include a separate chapter on regulatory cooperation and to set up a joint body called the Regulatory Cooperation Committee (RCC) to identify areas of future cooperation between the EU and Japan.
Against this background, a group of researchers co-ordinated by Professor Christoph Busch (Osnabrück) and Professor Kunihiro Nakata (Kyoto) explores the potential for a regulatory cooperation between the EU and Japan in the field of consumer protection and fair competition on digital markets. For this purpose, the joint project undertakes a comparative analysis of different regulatory techniques for digital platforms, including legislative and non-legislative instruments (e.g. industry self-regulation, codes of conduct, standardization) in the EU and Japan.
In this perspective the project pursues a triple aim: First, it will be analysed to what extent new regulatory instruments used by Japanese law may serve as a model for the German and European legislator. Second, it will be explored whether the emerging regulatory framework for a digital single market in the European Union could serve as a model for regional cross- border platform regulation in East Asia, in particular between China, Korea and Japan. Third, the identification of best practices for innovation-friendly platform regulation could contribute to inter-regional harmonization of legal requirements for online platforms in East Asia and Europe and thus foster the growth of electronic commerce between the two regions.
The first project phase was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) under a PAJAKO Grant (2020-2021). In December 2022, a new PAJAKO Grant was awarded to Professor Busch and Professor Nakata by the DAAD. This will enable the research group to continue the project in 2023 and 2024 with a focus on recent regulatory developments. In particular, the research group will explore how the the EU Digital Services Act Package influences policy debates in Japan.
Project team
Prof. Dr. Christoph Busch, University of Osnabrück (co-ordinator)
Prof. Dr. Kunihiro Nakata, Ryukoku University, Kyoto (co-ordinator)
Prof. Dr. Bernd Hartmann, University of Osnabrück
Prof. Dr. Naoko Kano, Keio University, Tokyo
Prof. Dr. Antonios Karaiskos, University of Kyoto
Prof. Dr. Naoko Kawamura, Kokugakuin University, Tokyo
Dr. Emi Ohashi, Shimane University, Matsue
Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider, University of Bonn
Prof. Dr. Mina Wakabayashi, Ryukoku University, Kyoto
Publications
C. Busch, ヨーロッパにおけるオンライン仲介プラットフォームのための規制枠組みに向けて [Towards a Regulatory Framework for Online Intermediary Platforms in Europe], in: Kunihiro Nakata et al. (eds) Modernisation of European Private Law and Consumer Law and Developments in Japanese Private Law, Nihon Hyoronsha 2020, 126-141.
Events
On March 13, 2023, Prof. Busch hosted a German-Japanese workshop on legal issues of platform regulation at the European Legal Studies Institute. During the workshop, Prof. Kunihiro Nakata (Ryukoku University), Prof. Naoko Kano (Keio University), Prof. Antonios Karaiskos (Kyoto University) and Prof. Naoko Kawamura (Kokugakuin University) reported on recent legal policy developments in Japan. Prof. Busch and his team presented an overview of the Digital Services Act and the forthcoming reform of product liability rules for online marketplaces.
Comparative Perspectives on Platform Regulation in the EU and Korea
With the recent adoption of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, the European Union is a global frontrunner in the dynamic field of platform regulation. Similar regulatory initiatives are currently under discussion in many other jurisdictions, including the Republic of Korea.
Building on earlier joint projects and co-operation between researchers from Osnabrück and Seoul, a group of researchers co-ordinated by Professor Christoph Busch (Osnabrück) and Professor Byung-Jun Lee (Seoul) will undertake a comparative analysis of the regulatory techniques for digital platforms in the EU and Korea in order to identify possible convergences and differences. In addition, the joint research group will explore the mutual influence and diffusion of regulatory models between the two jurisdictions.
In particular, the comparative analysis will focus on the following research questions: How and to what degree do regulators respond to platform power? What is the concept of platform power that serves as the basis for regulatory intervention? What legal and regulatory tools are used? How is the relationship between private and public enforcement? Are regulatory policies converging towards common characteristics? What are the factors determining divergences or convergences?
The research group project will also examine to what extent the regulatory developments in the EU and Korea influence each other. In doing so, the project will consider various theoretical frameworks for regulatory globalization such as the “Brussels effect”, the concept of legal transplants and regulatory webs that facilitate formal and informal co-operation between institutions (e.g. European Commission, Korea Fair Trade Commission, Korea Legislation Research Institute, European Law Institute).
The project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Project team:
Prof. Dr. Christoph Busch, Maître en Droit, University of Osnabrück (Co-ordinator)
Prof. Dr. Byung-Jun Lee, Korea University Seoul (Co-ordinator)
Prof. Dr. Seung Pil Choi, Hankuk University Seoul
Prof. Dr. Jens-Uwe Franck, LL.M. (Yale), University of Mannheim
Prof. Dr. Bernd Hartmann, LL.M. (Virginia), University of Osnabrück
Prof. Dr. Won-Jae Hwang, Keimyung University Daegu
Prof. Dr. Shindong Jun, Gangneung-Wonju National University Gangneug
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Katharina Kaesling, LL.M. (Collège d’Europe), University of Dresden
Prof. Dr. Sang-Jung Kim, Korea University Seoul
Prof. Dr. Jan Oster, LL.M. (Berkeley), University of Osnabrück
From Smart Technologies to Smart Consumer Laws
Comparative Perspectives from Germany and the UK
The 3-year project aims at mapping emerging consumer issues in the Internet of Things (IoT). A joint research team from the Universities of Bonn, Osnabrück, Stirling and Warwick will critically assess the extent to which consumer laws in Germany and the United Kingdom address these issues, scoping the potential for mutual learning between the two legal systems, and recommending changes to the current regulatory response. In doing so, the project will explore how consumers of smart devices can be empowered through law reform and legal design.
In this perspective, the research will address four overarching themes:
(1) Things as a Service: The emergence of the IoT challenges the traditional goods-services dichotomy on which consumer laws are built. Are existing consumer laws fit for purpose in a socio-technical setting increasingly shaped by long-term contracts and new data-driven monetization models
(2) Regulation ‘by Bricking’ and the Contractual Quagmire: In the IoT, smart products are persistently linked to sellers or suppliers who can remotely and automatically discontinue functionalities, downgrade the device, and even ‘brick’ it. An additional layer of complexity is added due to the growing number of actors involved in complex IoT systems (e.g. connected cars). How should these new types of techno-legal private ordering be regulated?
(3) Liability in the Cloud of Things: Alongside the complexity of the contractual relations in IoT systems, the emergence of smart services that depend on the automated interplay of multiple connected objects raises pressing issues of product liability. To what extent do existing liability rules provide adequate solutions for IoT-enabled injuries?
(4) Internet of Personalized Things: Smart objects can be used to profile and target consumers with unparalleled precision and efficacy. In this perspective, IoT-enabled profiling allows for personalization of products, prices or terms of service. At the same time, IoT applications could enable a more targeted use of consumer protection technologies. What does IoT-enabled personalization mean for the concept of the ‘average consumer’ and the enforcement of consumer laws?
These themes will be comparatively examined in relation to three use cases: smart home, wearables, and connected cars. The project is jointly led by Professor Christoph Busch (University of Osnabrück), Professor Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider (University of Bonn), Professor Christian Twigg-Flesner (University of Warwick) and Professor Guido Noto La Diega (University of Stirling).
The project is jointly funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) under the UK-German Funding Initiative in the Humanities (2022-2025).
Consumer resilience in the subscription economy
The research project "Consumer Resilience in the Subscription Economy" (VerSE) is dedicated to the interdisciplinary question of which instruments and processes can be used to strengthen the resilience of consumers to new risks of the so-called "subscription economy" from a legal and political science perspective. The project is jointly led by Prof. Dr. Christoph Busch (Osnabrück University) and Prof. Dr. Kathrin Loer (Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences) and funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection (BMUV).
The starting point is the observation that companies across all sectors are increasingly resorting to business models in which a one-off exchange of services ("one-off purchase") is replaced by time-based contracts and continuing obligations ("subscription"). While subscription contracts are not a completely new phenomenon in themselves, the current trend towards a subscription economy differs from previous developments in terms of quantity and quality. What is new in particular is the possibility of collecting comprehensive data on user behaviour as part of digital subscription models and using this to personalize offers. Also new are the possibilities for manipulation that are difficult to recognize in the context of digital contractual relationships, for example through so-called "dark patterns", which trigger the need for regulatory action.
This research project is the first to systematically examine the consumer policy field of action of the subscription economy from an interdisciplinary perspective by looking at legal and political science aspects together. It analyzes how the risks to consumers are changing as a result of the trend towards subscription models and how consumer policy in Germany and the USA is reacting to this. It also examines which new consumer policy instruments can be used to strengthen the resilience of consumers to the specific risks of the subscription economy. Both legal instruments ("consumer enabling laws") and technological instruments ("consumer enabling technologies") are included.
Project duration: 24 months (02/2022-01/2024)
Events:
Project workshop "Consumer resilience in the subscription economy: political science and legal perspectives", European Legal Studies Institute, 13-14.10.2022 Program (PDF, 237 kB)
Project workshop "In the jungle of subscriptions", Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, 13-14.12.2023
Publications:
C. Busch, Updating EU Consumer Law for the Digital Subscription Economy, 11 Journal of European Consumer and Market Law 41-42 (2022) PDF (PDF, 162 kB) (PDF, 162 kB)
C. Busch, Pay to Play: Social Media Meets the Subscription Economy, VerfBlog 23 May 2023, Open Access
C. Busch, Pay to Play: Social Media Meets the Subscription Economy, in: C. Goanta et al (eds.) Radical Reforms: Bringing Fairness to Social Media Contracts, 2023, Open Access (PDF, 0.98 MB) (PDF, 0.98 MB)
C. Busch & Christian Twigg-Flesner: A Roadmap for Regulating Subscriptions, Journal of European Consumer and Market Law 2024, 234-241, SSRN
C. Busch & K. Loer, Verbraucherresilienz in der Subscription Economy, Praxishandbuch, 2025, Open Access (PDF, 7.89 MB) (PDF, 7.89 MB)