| In Principle

At first glance, it may not seem obvious to treat data as crypto-assets. But a closer look shows that the current and planned regulations for this new asset class could serve as a key legal framework for the future data economy.

On 14 and 18 December, the president of Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office announced the results of this year’s last auctions for the sale of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) for new onshore photovoltaic (PV) installations and wind power plants with a total installed capacity of up to 1 MW and over 1 MW, held on 26 November and 3 December 2020 respectively.

Tax strategy: A step toward transparency or just more red tape?
Despite the difficulties this year, Polish lawmakers did not forget about their annual update of tax laws. Under the recently adopted regulations, the Treasury will seek to learn more about taxpayers by requiring them to draft, file and even publish a tax strategy. Is this a move toward transparency for the country’s largest companies, or another unnecessary formality?

The United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the European Union on 1 February 2020, and the transition period is drawing to an end on 31 December 2020. What will happen with intellectual property from 1 January 2021? How will trademarks, industrial designs, and patents be registered in the EU and the UK? Will the territorial scope of protection of existing rights change? What about .eu domains held by individuals and companies based in the UK? The changes will impact the operation of businesses currently benefitting from rights awarded across the EU. Now they must adapt to the changes and comply with new obligations.

E-sport is gaining in popularity, resulting in an increase in the number of players, games and spectators, as well as an increase in revenue from e-sport. Such revenue is taxable, but it is not always clear under which rules.

The contemporary debate about data, including discussions of the legal status of data, are hard to understand without defining the broader context. One element of this context is the demands of the movement referred to collectively as “MyData.”

At the beginning of 2021, the Regulation of the Minister of Climate of 11 September 2020 on Detailed Requirements for Waste Storage will come into force. The aim of the regulation is to establish uniform standards for waste storage and thus limit the negative impact of this activity on the environment.

During a crisis, the risk of running a business increases, and not just for “natural” reasons. There is also a growing number of unlawful behaviours by businesses, from incurring obligations they cannot honour to evading their existing liabilities. Too many businesses treat hard times as a great opportunity to shift the risk of their operations to counterparties who aren’t as “clever.”

On 2 December 2020, the UN Economic and Social Council’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted on recommendations from the World Health Organization Expert Committee. This has made some changes in the classification of cannabis, but not as far-reaching as producers and suppliers of cannabis products had hoped.

All buildings designed and executed in Poland on or after 31 December 2020 will have to meet stricter standards for consumption of non-renewable primary energy and the U-factor for heat flow. This change implements into the Polish legal system EU regulations adopted in 2010. It might seem investors have had a long time to prepare for the new energy-efficiency standards. But many of them are still waiting for consideration of applications filed under the existing standards, and their applications may not be decided before the more stringent standards enter into force. This raises the question of how those pending applications will be decided.

Is copyright a path to take to protect data? Can data be regarded as a result of creativity and, consequently, a protected work? Does the protection of a data filing system also include the data collected in it?

Transactions between related parties at a value above statutory thresholds must be identified in local transfer pricing documentation, but the regulations provide for a number of exceptions.