A Draft Law on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Law Issues of Digitalization

The paper critically examines the provisions proposed in the Draft Law on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Technologies that would impose property (civil) liability on developers, operators, and users of AI technologies on the basis of the principle of fault, and argues that such technologies should instead be treated as sources of heightened danger. It also demonstrates the impropriety of granting broad authority for the free (non-contractual) use of protected creative works, including subject matter protected by copyright and patent law, and criticizes the draft law’s failure to include specific provisions on the international legal protection of outputs generated through the use of AI technologies. The paper further analyzes the civil law framework governing relations involving the use of cryptocurrency as natural obligations. As a general conclusion, the author argues that there is neither a distinct civil law regime for «digital rights» («digital property») nor an autonomous branch of «digital law» and, accordingly, no need for its codification. The paper is based on the author’s paper presented at the First International Conference on Theory and Practice, «Digitalization of Civil Turnover: Problems and Prospects for Development», held on April 17, 2026, at Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL).

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