Journal of Law and Emerging Technologies

Patent Restrictions in Biotechnology and Jurisdiction Distribution Rules

Prof. Mohammed Mohammed Abdul Latif — 2024-10-15

The problems of patents in the field of biotechnology constitute a major focus in intellectual property law. These problems are due to the fact that they raise constitutional and legal principles that in turn constitute restrictions on the granting of these patents, including, for example, the principle of human dignity, and restrictions related to public order and good morals. Hence, the basic rule was that the human body throughout its developmental stages is not subject to patents.

As for inventions related to animals and plants, they are originally permissible, but they are also subject to restrictions of a degree of importance. Intellectual property laws stipulate special rules governing patents in the field of biotechnology, whether related to humans, animals or plants. It is noted that these texts are limited and largely generally formulated in Egyptian law. In contrast, French law includes many texts derived specifically from European Union law. In this research, we will present a comparative study of the restrictions on patents in the field of biotechnology in Egyptian and French law.

The Legal Framework for the Use of Contemporary Technologies in the Field of Visual Arts under Copyright Protection Rules: An Analytical Comparative Study

Dr. Farhad Seaid Saadi — 2024-10-15

Abstract:

Experts in visual arts and intellectual property law agree that creativity and originality are fundamental in describing artistic works as copyrighted and in granting authorship rights, encompassing both moral and financial aspects. Visual arts face challenges under current laws, whether in physical or digital formats, due to inadequate adoption of modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. Some Arab legislations, including Iraqi law, have not fully embraced AI in creating artworks or utilized blockchain for managing authors' rights, particularly the Resale Royalties right, which suffers from legislative shortcomings in regulation despite its crucial role in artistic creation, given its material uniqueness and the associated intellectual and financial property rights during ownership transfers.

Technological advancements in AI pose challenges in determining authorship between the program itself, the programmer, and the user, complicating categorization as original, derivative, collaborative, or collective works. This presents a legal challenge for copyright laws, which require originality and artistic creativity for authorship attribution.

This research addresses these issues both artistically and legally, concluding: First, AI should be viewed as a tool used by artistic authors to create their works, allowing authorship to be attributed to the programmer, the owning company of the software, or the user, depending on authorship conditions. Works produced can be considered collective, collaborative, or derivative without infringing on other authors' rights. Second, Blockchain technology can potentially overcome issues related to Resale Royalties right, preserving authors' rights against unauthorized commercial uses.

Keywords: Visual Arts- Copyright-Artificial Intelligence- Blockchain- Resale Royalties Right.

Wearable devices and its impact on the right to privacy of personal data

Dr. ِAhmed Ragab sameida — 2024-10-15

This study reveals the complexity of protecting personal data in the face of the challenges and risks that data collection and processing by AI offer to the fundamental right to privacy. It reviews the legislative regulation of personal data privacy in the European Union and its adequacy in achieving effective protection of that data when using wearable devices equipped with (AI) technologies, concluding with several recommendations aimed at developing the legislative and industrial framework to provide adequate protection for personal data in the face of these devices.

Gambling and Betting in the Digital Age: Loot Boxes in Electronic ‎Games between Legitimacy and Prohibition

Ms. Amira Samy Darwish — 2024-10-15

Electronic games are a huge industry that aims to generate profit. Loot boxes are one of the profit-making mechanisms created by game developers of electronic games. A loot box is a virtual object found within the virtual environment through which a player wins another virtual object or objects based on luck rather than skill.

Jurisprudence worldwide have begun to study loot boxes and determine their nature. Some legal scholars argue that loot boxes should be subject to the same legal framework as gambling and betting. This view has indeed been adopted by many countries, while others have rejected it.

This research aims to study the phenomenon of loot boxes in electronic games to determine the extent to which they are subject to the rules of gambling and betting in the Egyptian law within a comparative analytical framework. The research begins with an overview of electronic games, then moves to explain what loot boxes are, and ends with a review of the positions of comparative legislations and Egyptian legislation on this matter.

The Collective Right to Data in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Study of Personal Data Regulation

Judge. Abdelrahman Gamal — 2024-10-15

This study examines and critiques the effectiveness of the individual-control model adopted by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, subsequently, Egypt’s Personal Data Protection Law, in the face of artificial intelligence. This legislative philosophy places the individual at the centre, seeking to protect them by enabling personal control. In the context of personal data, it aims to empower the data subject to determine how their data are collected and processed.

To advance this perspective, the study investigates the impact of AI on privacy and personal data from a novel analytical perspective by introducing the concept of the “Data Influence Cycle” as a framework for understanding the risks AI poses to privacy and personal data. According to this framework, data pass through four phases: collection, processing, dissemination, and eventually feedback and readjustment. While each of these phases involves its own distinct risks, artificial intelligence interconnects them into a continuous cycle designed to exert an ongoing influence on data subjects.

The study reveals that individual control may inadvertently harm not only the data subject but also others. Due to AI’s analytical and inferential capabilities, it can create virtual algorithmic groups of individuals who share common traits and beliefs, such that one person’s data inform the understanding of everyone else in those groups. To shed light on this phenomenon, the study employs an economic analogy to evaluate how individual control affects these broader groups.

Ultimately, the study reaches two primary conclusions. First, when confronted with AI, data subjects lose meaningful control over their personal data. Second, it is more efficient to regard privacy and personal data as a collective right that affects the group, rather than as a purely individual right.

Legal Perspectives on the use of Emerging Technologies in Elections in Africa

Dr. Abdul Azeez Yusuf — 2024-10-15

This paper investigates the reception, integration, and use of new technologies in the preparation, conduct, and management of elections in Africa. Historically, elections have been manually conducted, but due to a distrust of the system by voters, and the quest for modernization and better ways of doing things, there is a frenzied adoption of new technologies in the electoral system. Although, this is a welcome development, but this paper, however, calls for caution as the deployment of new technologies has elicited mixed reactions, recorded twists and turns, and presented even new challenges. These include another phase of trust deficit by the electorate; the prohibitive cost of acquiring new technologies, and the judicialization of elections, even in some of the advanced countries where new technologies were being used. A better understanding of the intersection between technology and voting is, thus, necessary and imperative to interrogate the circumstances and legal environment in which the emerging technologies are also being used in Africa, so as to understand why and how they have produced unintended consequences. This paper seeks to achieve this through the doctrinal method of legal research.

Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space by John J. Klein. Naval Institute Press, 2023, 264 pp.

Dr Bruno Reynaud de Sousa — 2024-10-15

John J. Klein’s Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space
compellingly examines the application of irregular warfare principles in outer
space. Drawing extensively on maritime warfare theory, the author provides
a structured and historically grounded framework that enriches the strategic
understanding of space as a contested domain. At a time when geopolitical
competition between the United States and China increasingly transcends the
Earth’s surface, Klein’s work stands out as a seminal and timely contribution
to military and strategic thought.