Publication date: January 03, 2024

On October 1, 2023, a controversial amendment to the Polish Penal Code entered into force. The changes introduced by it include, among others, tightening penalties for crimes listed in Chapter XXXVI of the Polish Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the Penal Code), i.e. crimes against business transactions and property interests in civil law transactions. People holding important positions in companies should feel particularly at risk, because in their case the penalties will be much higher.

Penalties for white collar crimes.

Introduced together with the amendment to the Penal Code, Art. 306b of the Penal Code, creates new qualifying types for acts under Art. 296 § 1 or 2 of the Penal Code (abuse of trust in business transactions), Art. 296a § 1 or 4 of the Penal Code (economic bribery of the basic and qualified types), Art. 299 § 1, 2, 5 or 6 of the Penal Code (money laundering) or in Art. 303 § 1 of the Penal Code (unreliable and false economic documentation). These types are based on the amount of property involved in the crime or the amount of damage. And accordingly, in accordance with Art. 306b § 1 of the Penal Code, the qualifying mark is committing an act in relation to property with a value (or causing damage of a certain amount) greater than five times the amount determining the property of great value (PLN 5,000,000), while the qualifying mark under § 2 is the value greater than ten times the amount determining property of great value (PLN 10,000,000).

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Publication date: December 21, 2023

Issues and practical implications of the phenomenon of green clauses

In the area of the dynamically evolving legal and business space, the subject of reflection is the phenomenon of green clauses in lease agreements, which constitute a meeting point of innovative legal practices and sustainable development strategies. This article is aimed at a reliable analysis of this phenomenon, considering it in the context of the real estate market and its key participants. On the one hand, we face the challenge of adapting traditional legal practices to new realities, and on the other, we explore how these new realities can generate benefits for all participants in the real estate process. In the context of green clauses in lease agreements, practical implications may include, for example, the impact of these clauses on the relationship between the parties to the lease, changes in property management, financial implications for owners and tenants, or the long-term impact on property values.

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Publication date: December 20, 2023

With the development of technology, artificial intelligence began to impact almost all areas of our lives, starting from performing tedious simple tasks, it has developed to the point that it is able to create art, including graphics and music. With this progress, new issues and problems arise related to this AI activity. One of the main current problems is the question of who holds the copyright to works created in this way and whether such works are covered by copyright protection at all. Questions arise such as: can artificial intelligence be considered a creator? Do works created by artificial intelligence have copyright? What human contribution is sufficient for copyright protection of a work? Who is the creator of the work and who should have the copyright?

US Court ruling regarding works generated by artificial intelligence

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Publication date: December 18, 2023

Legal status of crypto money and cryptocurrency exchanges without financial authorities supervision – Polish and global perspective.

The concept of creating a decentralized electronic payment system was created in the 1990s, but this movement gained momentum during the last financial crisis, which peaked in 2008-2009. Cryptocurrencies are a form of decentralized digital money based on blockchain technology. As an introduction, it is worth mentioning that the first cryptocurrency to enjoy increasing popularity was Bitcoin. The date of its creation and the beginning of the growing popularity of virtual currencies is set at 2009. Even before the appearance of the first Polish cryptocurrency exchanges, there was a Polish currency exchange office operating on the market, allowing the exchange of digital currencies. The first bitcoin exchange was established in 2010, but like many others, it did not stand the test of time.

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Publication date: December 13, 2023

Explanation and blockchain in cryptocurrencies

Being one of the most popular topic of the last years in technology, blockchain offers great perspectives but still remains often seen as vague, complicated matter. Not going into details, it can be surely stated that it is not as complicated as it may seem, both in understanding and especially in application. In a nutshell, blockchain is a technology which secures sharing of information, storing data in a digital database on a distributed ledger of blocks. It allows mostly to record transactions or track assets of various kinds. Importantly, it runs completely online but is properly secured: all information stored is cryptographically coded and to access specific data you need to use your own, private key which is authenticated by network.

That being said, the most important application for blockchain is now cryptocurrency, the most known being bitcoin. The very existence and operation of crypto depend on the blockchain technology. Nowadays, it is not just growing popularity of fashionable crypto assets but an actual growth in the use of this technology in business. In 2022, there were estimated 2,353 businesses in the US accepting bitcoin and the number is believed to grow. Cryptocurrencies are being used by different brands, for different purposes: from purchasing tickets or non-fungible tokens to even buying real estate. The scope of possibilities may be not unlimited but certainly is bound to be increasingly broader.

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