Minor Digital IP and Law

The digitalization of society raises new concerns related to the protection of the competition process and of the consumers..

This course covers four Law and Economics topics related to competition law, consumer law, digitalization, artificial intelligence, and disinformation:

• Abuse of dominance applied to digital markets
  In the words of the Crémer Report: “the specific characteristics of platforms, digital ecosystems, and the data economy require established concepts, doctrines and methodologies, as well as competition enforcement more generally, to be adapted and refined” (Crémer J., de Montjoye Y.-A. & Schweitzer H., « Competition Policy for the Digital Era », Final Report, 2019, p. 3). As the attention economy has become a central part of our daily lives, it raises concerns in terms of competition law, fairness in commercial relations in digital markets, and anticompetitive practices.
  This module will thus firstly focus on the anticompetitive practices’ legal prohibition (their criterion, the sanctions…) and secondly explore the difficulties that have arisen regarding digital platforms and their characteristics that make public enforcement extremely more complex. A few notable cases, such as Google Shopping, Microsoft, or more recently the Apple cases, will be studied, as well as ongoing investigations.
  Finally, as the European Union has recently adopted the Digital Markets Act, a regulation aimed at digital “gatekeepers” providing “core platform services” to ensure fair and contestable markets, this change of paradigm from an ex post sanction to an ex ante regulation will enclose this module, with the first non-compliance decisions having been issued in March 2025.
• Online liability for illicit content and disinformation
  This course introduces the legal issues surrounding the publication of unlawful content online, such as intellectual property violations, hate speech, defamation...
  It examines the responsibilities of both content creators and digital platforms. It will explore the legal and ethical challenges posed by harmful but lawful content, such as disinformation.
• Coordinated algorithmic anticompetitive practices (collusions and mergers control)
  This section deals first with coordinated anticompetitive practices implemented in digital markets in a competition law and economics perspective rooted in examples from EU and US case laws. We consider the case of collusions between competitors both the ones supported by the use of algorithms and the ones potentially initiated by reinforcement learning based ones. Second it will deal with the issue of the protection of the market structures and the potential competition through the mergers control performed by competition authorities. It will put the accent on the difficulties related to the acquisition strategies of Big Techs.
• Competition law confronted to artificial intelligence
  This course addresses the contemporary transformations of competition law in light of algorithms and artificial intelligence.
  Its primary objective is to analyze how economic practices are evolving under the influence of automation and big data, and how the law is responding to these changes. The following topics will be covered:
  An introduction to the issues related to the digital economy, along with a review of the fundamental principles of competition law, notably anticompetitive practices, abuses of dominant position, and merger control.
  Subsequent sessions focus on the specificities of digital markets, algorithmic pricing, algorithmic discrimination, the use of AI in anticompetitive strategies, and the challenges posed by mergers involving data flows. The course also examines legal liability issues arising from algorithmic opacity and the evidentiary challenges it presents. It concludes with a forward-looking discussion on ethical concerns and potential regulatory developments.
  Recent legislative texts such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) are analyzed to assess their impact, along with landmark decisions (e.g., Google Shopping, Amazon, etc.).
  The pedagogical approach is designed to develop students’ critical thinking and practical legal skills through a combination of lectures, case studies, and structured debates.
• Consumer protection and digital manipulations
  This introductory lecture will establish the foundations of the economics of data and the core principles of digital markets. It will also introduce the concept of digital platforms, with a particular focus on the competition issues they raise.
  Building on this foundation, we will explore the behavior of online consumers. Like all consumers, they are subject to cognitive biases that affect their decision-making. While consumer manipulation is not a new phenomenon, the digitalization of the economy has amplified its scale and complexity. This analysis will address three key dimensions:
  • Consumer Decision-Making and Data Awareness We will begin by examining the challenges consumers face when making decisions in digital environments, their awareness of how personal data is used, and the economic value of that data.
  • Platform-Specific Manipulation Risks, we will differentiate the risks and forms of manipulation across four types of digital platforms: social networks, marketplaces, payment systems, and app stores. Special attention will be given to dark patterns, online choice architecture, user reviews and endorsements, and algorithmic tools that may facilitate unfair or deceptive commercial practices.
  • Regulatory Responses and Consumer Protection: The final section will focus on regulatory approaches to consumer protection. We will compare ex-ante measures—such as conformity-by-design obligations—with ex-post mechanisms, including judicial remedies available to public authorities or consumers seeking damages. This discussion will explore how the European regulatory framework addresses these issues, particularly through the interplay of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and competition law enforcement. We will also consider the evolving role of consumer protection within the context of new digital regulations, including the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Artificial Intelligence Act.

• Chloé Djamdji (Université Côte d’Azur, GREDEG) – PhD student

Chloé Djamdji is a PhD candidate in Private Law at Côte d’Azur University and a member of the GREDEG 7321 UMR CNRS laboratory. Her research field covers competition law, digital law, privacy law, new technologies and regulation, with a focus on the regulation of AI in competition Law.

chloe.djamdji@univ-cotedazur.fr
 

• Léonie Blaszyk-Niedergang (Université Côte d'Azur, GREDEG - PhD candidate)

• Nathalie Nielson (Université Côte d’Azur, GREDEG) – Doctor in private law

Nathalie Nielson is a Doctor in private law at Côte d’Azur University. She defended her thesis on December 19, 2024, on the topic of abuse of dominance and monopolization in competition law facing the challenges of the Digital Economy. She has also a wide interest in international law, regarding for example International Trade Law or International Private Law. 
During her PhD, she has published articles in antitrust law, covering a wide range of subjects: mergers, sanctions, due process of law, the actuality of competition law etc. She has also attended multiple conferences such as the GREDEG PhD Workshop, a Symposium in Würzburg University and in Aix-en-Provence, the 2022 ASCOLA conference in Porto, 2023 in Athens and 2024 in Würzburg.
nathalie.nielson@univ-cotedazur.fr

• Christian Rüsche (Ruhr University Bochum) – Doctor in Microeconomics, Professor

Léonie Blaszyk-Niedergang

• « Responsabilité des contenus publiés sur internet : quelles sont les règles ? », https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F32075
• Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act)

Nathalie Nielson

• Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Digital Markets Act): L_2022265EN.01000101.xml (europa.eu)
• Crémer J., de Montjoye Y.-A. & Schweitzer H., « Competition Policy for the Digital Era », Final Report, 2019: https://ec.europa.eu/competition/publications/reports/kd0419345enn.pdf
• Deborah Healey, Abuse of dominance, Competition Law Dictionary, Concurrences, Art. N° 20101: https://www.concurrences.com/en/dictionary/abuse-of-dominant-position-en

• Akman, Pinar. "A Web of Paradoxes: Empirical Evidence on Online Platform Users and Implications for Competition and Regulation in Digital Markets." Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 16 (2021): 217.
• Büchel, J./ Rusche, C. (2021). On Gatekeepers and Structural Competition Problems, in: Intereconomics, Vol. 56, No. 4, P. 205-210.
• European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Lupiáñez-Villanueva, F., Boluda, A., Bogliacino, F., et al., Behavioural study on unfair commercial practices in the digital environment : dark patterns and manipulative personalisation : final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2022, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2838/859030
• Helberger, N., Lynskey, O., Micklitz, H. W., Rott, P., Sax, M., & Strycharz, J. (2021). EU consumer protection 2.0. Structural asymmetries in digital consumer markets. Joint Report from EUCP2. 0 Project BEUC.
• Demary, V./ Engels, B./ Rusche, C. (2020). Differentiated Treatment of Business Users by Online Platforms. Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. Analytical Paper 2. https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/vera-demary-barbara-engels-christian-rusche-differentiated-treatment-of-business-users-by-online-platforms.html [06.07.2025].
• Podszun, R. (2022). The Digital Markets Act: What’s in it for Consumers?. Journal of European Consumer and Market Law, 11(1).
• Rusche, C./ Scheufen, M. (2018). On (Intellectual) Property and other Legal Frameworks in the Digital Economy. https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/christian-rusche-marc-scheufen-on-intellectual-property-and-other-legal-frameworks-in-the-digital-economy.html [06.07.2025].

• Spring 2026
  • Christian Rüsche: On-site exam - 19/02/2026, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, room to be confirmed - 25 % of the final grade
  • Léonie Blaszyk-Niedergang: On-site exam - 5/03/2026, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, room to be confirmed - 25 % of the final grade
  • Nathalie Nielson: Case analysis, on-site exam - 9/04/2026, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, room to be confirmed - 25 % of the final grade
  • Chloé Djamdji: On-site exam - 16/04/2026, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, room to be confirmed - 25 % of the final grade
• Fall 2025
  • Christian Rüsche: On-site exam, 16/10/2025, 9h00-12h00, Campus Trotabas, room 404 - 25 % of the final grade
  • Constant Richard: On-site exam, 23/10/2025, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, Passiflore room 14 - 25 % of the final grade
  • Chloé Djamdji: On-site exam, 04/12/2025, 9h00, Campus Trotabas, room 404 - 25 % of the final grade
  • Nathalie Nielson: Case analysis - Exam: 11/12/2025, 09h00, Campus Trotabas, room 404 - 25 % of the final grade