Tortious liability of host providers for user-generated content

The aim of the project "Tortious liability of host providers for user-generated content" is to analyse the scope and effectiveness of protection granted to host providers in Polish law and European Union law. The subject of the project is topical due to the enormous development of Web 2.0 services. A characteristic feature of Web 2.0 services is that they offer users not only a place to store data but also the possibility for users to influence the content and shape of these services. The stored data is modified by the users themselves, which can, in effect, lead to copyright infringement. For this reason, determining the scope of host providers' liability for user-generated content is currently one of the most significant challenges in the area of Internet law. So far, European doctrine and judicature have not formulated a uniform position on the issue of tortious liability of host providers for storing files containing user-generated data. The problem concerns not only the interpretation of the provisions of the European Union e-commerce directive and the Polish Act on the provision of services by electronic means but also the issue of so-called contributory liability of host providers for assisting in making data storage space available. The main reason why I would like to undertake an examination of this topic is the discrepancies existing in literature and case law and the lack of a clear position on the scope of protection granted to host providers. Furthermore, I perceive the key importance of the problem of host providers' liability for the development of the Internet and the freedom of Internet use by users. In Polish literature, there is a lack of a study that would analyse the scope and effectiveness of protection granted to host providers in the provisions of Polish law, with simultaneous reference to the regulation of this issue in European Union law and American law. An examination of the scope of regulations and case law concerning host providers' liability, taking into account socio-economic conditions, will allow for an assessment of whether the protection granted to host providers in Polish law and European Union law is effective. For this reason, basic research in this area is highly innovative and fully justified. It will enable the acquisition of new theoretical knowledge about the scope and effectiveness of the protection granted to host providers in currently applicable legal provisions. The analysis of the issue will allow for systematising the state of knowledge, answering the question about the scope of liability, and assessing the effectiveness of the provisions.