Innovation Series: Advanced Science (ISSN 2938-9933)

Volume 2 · Issue 6 (2025)

Data Rights Delimitation Through the Lens of Hohfeldian Jurisprudence

 

Weixing Fu

Doctoral candidate in civil and commercial law, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing 100088, China

 

Abstract: Data, as a unique form of asset, holds significant commercial and economic value, characterized by its valuableness, infinite replicability, and updatability. The delimitation of data rights encompasses various aspects, including ownership and control over personal information, data access rights, rights to rectification and erasure, data portability, and the right to data publication. The process of defining data rights is dynamic, requiring continuous adjustment and balancing of the interests of all parties involved to achieve the rational, secure, and sustainable utilization of data resources. Using Wesley Hohfeld's analytical theory of rights as a starting point, the definition and balancing of data rights must also take into account factors such as legal regulations, public interest and ethics, personal privacy protection, and the principles of data sharing and openness. By comprehensively applying Hohfeld's framework of jural relations, effective protection and rational utilization of data rights can be achieved, offering a valuable conceptual framework for data rights delimitation.

 

Keywords: Hohfeld; Data Rights; Personal Information Protection; Legal Relations

 

References

[1]
Qian Ziyu, “On the construction of data property rights”, The Jurist, No.06,2021,pp.75-91.
[2]
Zhao Lei, “The legal significance of typifying data property rights”, Journal of CUPL, No.03, 2021, PP.72-82.
[3]
Shen Weixing, “On the right to use data for beneficial purposes”, Social Sciences in China, No.11, 2020, PP.110-131.
[4]
Katerina Pistor, “Rule by Data: The End of Markets?”, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol.83, No.2, 2020, P106.
[5]
Long Weiqiu, “Revisiting the Path of Property Rights for Enterprise Data Protection”, Oriental Law, No.03, 2018, PP.50-63.
[6]
Omri Ben-Shahar, “Data Pollution”, Journal of Legal Analysis, Vol.11, No.1, 2019, PP.104-159.
[7]
Daixin, “The relational approach to data boundary rights”, Peking University Law Journal, Vol.33, No.06(2021), pp.1561-1580.
[8]
Yan Lidong, “Exploring data rights from the perspective of ‘bundle of rights’", Oriental Law, No.02, 2019, pp.57-67.
[9]
Wang Yong, “Seeking the ‘least common denominator’ of legal concepts - A study on the analytical thought of Hohfeld's legal concepts”, Journal of Comparative Law, No.02, 1998, pp.41-55.
Download PDF
Innovation Series

Innovation Series is an academic publisher publishing journals and books covering a wide range of academic disciplines.

Contact

Francesc Boix i Campo, 7
08038 Barcelona, Spain