The Geology Data Act has been in force for a good five years. Its provisions, in particular those relating to the transmission and (staggered) public availability of data, are not without controversy. The courts have had to deal with this issue, and it remains to be seen whether and how the Federal Constitutional Court will rule on it. And when is data considered “ownerless”? What is the current practice of the authorities in the federal states?
There are many questions and good reasons to take a closer look at this still relatively new law.