Martin Ebers
Martin Ebers is Professor of IT Law at the University of Tartu (Estonia) and permanent research fellow at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He is co-founder and president of the Robotics & AI Law Society (RAILS). In addition to research and teaching, he has been active in the field of legal consulting for many years. His main areas of expertise and research are IT law, private law, insurance law and European law. Most recently, he published the book „Algorithms and Law“ at Cambridge University Press and the "Rechtshandbuch für Künstliche Intelligenz und Robotik" at C.H. Beck.
Title
Producer's Liability for Damages caused by Autonomous Vehicles under German and European Law
Abstract
The use of (partially) autonomous vehicles raises a number of legal problems. From the perspective of the injured party, the main question is who is liable for damages caused by such a vehicle. Many scholars assume that there will be a shift in liability to the detriment of the manufacturer, since the users of the vehicle cannot be held liable for the vehicle's actions. Accordingly, this paper examines - on the basis of German and European Product Liability Law - whether this is actually the case.