The data economy is on the rise, and the international debate on how to deal with legal issues related to data is more relevant than ever. Japan has been a pioneer in providing guidance to stakeholders in the data economy with the ‘Contract Guidelines on Utilization of AI and Data’, which were published by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2018. Even though the METI guidelines and the ALI-ELI ‘Principles for a Data Economy’ differ in some aspects, such as structure and main target audiences, both instruments aim provide guidance to stakeholders on how to deal with certain legal issues that regularly arise in the data economy.

After a brief round of introductions, project Reporter Professor Christiane Wendehorst, together with project assistants Yannic Duller and Sebastian Schwamberger, provided a detailed overview of the latest Tentative Draft No 2 of the ‘Principles for a Data Economy’,  which was approved by ALI membership in May 2021. Discussions at the workshop adressed a range of issues, such as the rise of data transactions, data rights and third-party aspects of data activities. The European side of the project team is looking forward to continued exchange with Professor Tetsuo Morishita and Japanese colleagues on the ‘Principles for a Data Economy’.