Fundamentals of software law. Software product liability issues, software quality control and the developer's liability in the European Union

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Law - IT law, grade: 1,0, Humboldt-University of Berlin, language: English, abstract: This paper is about: Software product liability issues, software quality control and the developer's liability in the European Union as implemented in Germany, discussed on the example of autonomous vehicles.Product liability is the responsibility a producer, as a legal person, has towards another subject, the consumer, with regard to an act. The producer is liable for the act of producing and/or placing a product on the market. The liability obligation in the case of product liability does not result from the contractual obligation between the contracting parties, in the sense of a disposition and executory agreement. Rather, it is a state intervention into the private autonomy, limiting the freedom of contract-design by law. Its purpose is to preventively protect consumers against damage caused by defective products. The legal liability of the producer for defective products is no dispositive law, which could be limited or even waived by agreement between parties. Product liability, together with legally prescribed warranty rights and voluntary guarantees are the foundation of consumer protection in the German legal system.