Conceptual approaches to defining digital objects and digital assets

The development of digital technologies has led to the emergence of new objects of law and legal relations, the understanding of which is necessary to ensure the implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to property and the right to respect for human dignity. Among the main objects that have arisen as a result of the development of digital technologies are digital objects and assets. The purpose of this article is to attempt to formulate the concept of a “digital object”, conduct a comparative study of approaches to defining the concept of a “digital asset”, highlight the key features of the concept of a “digital asset”, propose approaches to determining the relationship between the concepts of a “digital object” and a “digital asset”, which will contribute to the development of legal regulation in the context of the digitalization of society. The approaches to defining the concepts of a “digital object” and a “digital asset” contained in doctrinal sources both in the Russian Federation and abroad (USA, Great Britain, Germany) are analyzed. An analysis of these categories contained in regulatory sources, including at the level of international organizations and interstate integration associations, is carried out. The study used dogmatic and formal-logical methods, an axiological approach and a comparison method. Based on the results of the analysis, definitions of the concepts of “digital object”, “digital asset”, and approaches to their relationship are proposed. The essential characteristics of such a category as “digital asset” are identified based on the materials developed at the level of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the CIS, and the European Institute of Law, and the common features and differences between the concepts of “digital object” and “digital asset” are analyzed. A conclusion is formulated that a digital object can be considered as a general, generic concept that includes digital assets and other objects, such as social media accounts, email accounts, while an essential, constitutive feature of a digital asset is the concept of control over a digital asset.