Hoffmann, Henrik Norsk --- "Bryde Andersen: IT-Retten" [2003] IntTBLawRw 18; (2003) 8 International Trade and Business Law Review 434

By Mads Bryde Andersen, IT-Retten, Forlaget It-Retten, Copenhagen, 2001, ISBN 87-988580-0-9

This book is one of the most complete presentations of the Danish IT law ever made. Dr jur Mads Bryde Andersen has been a Professor at Law at the University of Copenhagen since 1991, and he is one of the leading scholars in the area of IT law in the Danish legal professioon Professor Andersen is also involved in several IT law institutions both in Denmark and abroad.

IT-Retten is a thorough examination of legislation and case law regarding IT law issues in Denmark. The book’s 936 pages have been divided into four main parts. The first part is an introduction to IT law, with a general explanation of the common problems within this modern law discipline. Besides a description of the historical development of the computer and IT law, and problems in regard to evidence and jurisprudence, a very useful explanatory chapter on the technical aspects of computers and how they work has been included in Part 1. In Part 2, Dr Andersen goes through the various intellectual property rights and the consequences that the introduction of information technology has had on these legal disciplines. Part 3 is probably of least relevance for non-Danish readers. Here, the focus is on the marketing and treatment/ processing of personal information. The last part of the book discusses the legal problems that can occur when a contract regarding information technology products is entered into, or when a contract is entered into by the use of information technology.

IT-Retten also contains a very useful dictionary on the technological terms used in information technology, and in the spirit of technology that this book describes, it is available for private use on www.it-retten.dk.

As with all the other books written by Professor Mads Bryde Andersen, IT-Retten is easy to read. He makes use of simple but very precise language, which allows the reader to focus on the important issue, IT law, which is very well described in the book.

One very user friendly aspect, which is especially expressed apparent in the second part of the book, is the way Dr Andersen first presents the general rules of a subject, for example, copyright law (Chapter 6), and then explains the unique characteristics of this branch of law in regard to information technology. The fact that Professor Andersen, in his discussion of the requirements for a copyright protectable computer program, also examines whether or not programming macros and hyperlinks are computer programs, shows exactly how thorough and complex this book is.

Due to the numerous discussions in IT-Retten, the book is a good starting point for any research regarding information technology law in Denmark, as well as the rest of Scandinavia.

The rapidly increasing use of the Internet has made it more important for legal systems and lawyers all over the world to find more uniform approaches to legislation regarding information technology in order to ensure the rights of the parties involved in this business. Two main issues are contract law and intellectual property law. Professor Andersen has taken up the challenge by presenting foreign law and then comparing it with the Danish approach.

Usually the interest of legal literature is within the jurisdiction which the literature presents. However, Professor Mads Bryde Andersen’s IT-Retten is the exception that proves the rule. Due to the fact that he is constantly comparing the Danish legislation and case law with foreign jurisdiction, and due to the fact that most Danish legislation governing information technology is an implementation of European Union directives, IT-Retten is of high interest to most lawyers and legal scholars working with information technology law on a regular basis. Hopefully, this excellent book will be translated into English so that non-Danish speaking readers will have the opportunity to enjoy this extremely relevant and interesting presentation.

Henrik Norsk Hoffmann