Data Navigator: Datenlizenzen nach Data Act - Was heißt hier FRAND?

Episode 44 of the Data Navigator Podcast focuses on FRAND in the Data Act, specifically the conditions under which data owners must release IoT data to third parties and what they are allowed to charge in return. Martin Schirmbacher and Hubertus von Rönne explain the details of the new legal framework. The starting point is the familiar triangle: A user (e.g., a wind farm operator) instructs the manufacturer (e.g., Vestas) to send operational data directly to a third party (e.g., the startup Turbit). A contract must be concluded between the manufacturer and the third party (see Article 8 of the Data Act), and the compensation is governed by Article 9 of the Data Act, all under FRAND conditions. The user, however, is entitled to request the data free of charge. Martin and Hubertus go into detail about the costs the manufacturer may charge (provisioning costs, onboarding, margin if applicable, and investment costs – the latter, however, not for SMEs, for example), the billing models provided for in the Commission's Draft Guidelines, and what "non-discriminatory" means in practice. The central principle: The value of the data itself must not be priced. The conclusion: Remuneration issues will develop differently depending on the sector. Currently, the problem often lies in fundamental questions: What data is actually being shared, and how is it to be categorized? The demand remains: Producers, users, and data recipients must come together within their respective sectors and discuss the terms of data provision.