CIVIL LEGAL REGIME OF DIGITAL THINGS: PROBLEMS OF DETERMINING THE LEGAL NATURE, CLASSIFICATION AND PROTECTION OF RIGHTS

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the legal nature of digital things as a new category of objects of civil rights introduced into the Civil Code of Ukraine. The relevance of the research is determined by the rapid digitalization of social relations, which has led to the emergence of digital things as digital goods existing exclusively in the electronic environment and possessing economic value. This development contributes to the transformation of classical concepts of property and ownership and necessitates the formation of an adequate legal regime for their circulation and protection. The purpose of the article is to determine the legal nature of digital things, to develop their functional classification, and to formulate approaches to the civil law protection of rights to such objects. The authors draw attention to the problematic nature of the legislative construction of a digital thing, which combines a presumption of the application of rules on things with the possibility of deviation depending on the nature of a specific object. It is established that a uniform perception of digital things is unacceptable given their diverse economic nature, modes of existence, and mechanisms of control. The article analyzes the correlation between the categories of “digital thing,” “digital content,” and “virtual asset,” and identifies the fragmentation of the current legislation, which complicates law enforcement. Based on doctrinal approaches and legislative provisions, a functional classification of digital things into registry-based, platform-based, and derivative is proposed. It is substantiated that such differentiation has practical significance, as it enables the determination of appropriate civil law remedies depending on the nature of the object — from establishing control over technical means of access to the application of contractual and tort mechanisms. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of evidence in disputes concerning digital assets, where technological identifiers and digital traces play a crucial role. It is concluded that a digital thing constitutes a category encompassing objects of different legal nature, and that effective protection of rights to such objects is possible only through the combination of general remedies with a differentiated approach, the harmonization of legislative definitions, and the development of standards of proof in civil proceedings.