Determining the Parties Obligations in Contracts for the Supply Digital Content: Problems and Prospects of Adapting Ukrainian Legislation to Eu Law

After signing the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States 47, Ukraine undertook a number of commitments, including the progressive alignment of its legislation with the European Union acquis. This includes the strengthening of economic and trade relations with a view to Ukraine’s gradual integration into the European Union internal market through the establishment of a deep and comprehensive free trade area, including intangible goods such as digital content. In May 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a new legislative act in the field of digital content distribution – Directive 2019/770 on contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services, which entered into force for European Union member states on July 1, 2021. The process of implementation of the Directive provisions involves recodification of the member states’ national civil legislation. This underlines the importance of studying the provisions of this regulatory act in the context of the Ukrainian legislation adaptation. Therefore, the study of the possible implementation of the provisions of this Directive, in particular of the perspective of determining the parties’ obligations in contracts for the supply of digital content into the national legal system of Ukraine, is of great importance. The purpose of this study is to clarify the content of the obligations of the parties in contracts for the supply of digital content, to examine the possibility of application current national legislation to regulate relations for the supply of digital content, and to develop regulatory provisions for the improvement of Ukrainian legislation in accordance with the provisions of European Union law. In the course of this research, the following general scientific and special legal methods have been applied: the method of legal analysis, the method of comparative law and modeling, the system-functional method, the method of analysis and synthesis, and the method of generalization. The article substantiates the need to establish a digital content supply contract in the Civil Code of Ukraine as a separate type of named contract with its own subject matter and other essential conditions. The authors demonstrate the ineffectiveness of applying the rules of sale of goods, service, and lease contracts to legal relations with digital content. The authors substantiate the appropriateness of the imposition of additional information obligations on the provider of digital content in contracts with consumers. Within the framework of the conducted research, the authors identify the obligations of the supplier of the digital content, including: a) to deliver the digital content; b) to transfer the ownership of the physical data carrier on which the digital content is stored in favor of the recipient; c) to ensure that the digital content complies with the terms of the contract; d) to ensure the possibility of using the digital content in accordance with the terms of the contract; e) to transfer the necessary documents to the recipient together with the digital content. The article proves that the recipient’s obligations under a contract for the supply of digital content are as follows: a) to pay the contract price (unless the terms of the contract provide for the fulfillment of another counter-obligation, including the provision of personal data usage, or provide for the supply of digital content on a gratuitous basis); b) to accept the digital content together with the necessary supporting and authorization documents; c) to take the necessary measures to ensure the use of the digital content.