A new outlook on legal protection of algorithms in the context of the demand for enhanced algorithmic transparency

Abstract

Algorithms, along with data and platforms, constitute the main component of digital economy. The legal protection of algorithms to a great extent depends on how this notion is defined. Most often algorithms comprise the essence of computer programs. Since copyright protects only the textual layer of software, algorithms (as methods for resolving a given problem) are not protected, whereas their specific implementation expressed in a programming language is. Patent law does not protect algorithms “as such,” but they can be protected as technical methods of resolving technical problems with the use of a computer. Thus, algorithms were protected through trade secrets, but in the context of demand for their enhanced transparency, this model is insecure. Therefore, it seems reasonable to reconsider the issue of algorithm protection, and the soundest solution seems to involve the introduction of the sui generis model.