An Empirical Perspective on Challenges and Opportunities of the European Data Act for SMEs in the Swedish Creative Industry

In February 2022, the European Commission published the proposal of the Data Act, which introduces new rules on who can use and access data generated in the EU across all economic sectors. One central motivation for this legislation is to give more power to smaller enterprises (SME), a direction that has already evoked opposition by large tech companies. The aim of the proposed project is therefore to obtain detailed, empirical evidence of both advantages and challenges that emerge from the Data Act for SM Es that work in the cultural and creative industries (CCI). CCI employ data-driven Al methods for recommendation, generation, and analysis of media content and metadata. They often rely on large platforms for data access and cloud computing in the context of Al, creating dependence and vulnerability of the SME. Our objectives are to reveal conflicts between what is done at SMEs and the legal text, and to propose alternative Data Acts based on our empirical data. To this end, we establish and employ a set of participatory and speculative workshops in the context of sociology of law, with the aim to inform stakeholders of the impact of a legal framework and to explore fair and equitable redirections. Our project will contribute to a rebalancing of power by supporting SMEs in participating and taking agency in the ongoing process of shaping a legal framework.