There are words that freeze. Others that open.
Law, often, impresses. It seems cold, rigid, written in a language reserved for initiates.
And yet… behind the articles, there are beings. Behind the clauses, intentions. Behind the signatures, life choices.
This dictionary does not pretend to be academic. It is subjective, committed, tender sometimes, revolted often.
Here, each term is a small jewel that we wanted to make readable, sensitive, almost luminous.
Because law should not exclude.
Because a contract can be a sincere promise.
Because a well thought out clause is also a form of poetry.
Welcome to our language.
And good reading, with heart.
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The author is the soul of a work. The one who creates a text, a visual, a melody… and who, without always knowing it, becomes the holder of a powerful right.
“To create is to remember the future.” – Jean Cocteau
A confidentiality agreement is a silent pact: "I tell you, you keep it to yourself". Behind the scenes of innovation, it protects ideas before they become reality. Essential when trust is not enough.
An intangible asset is a wealth that cannot be touched or stored on a shelf.
It is an idea that has become value, a name that has become reputation, a know-how that has become an advantage.
Brands, creations, data, contracts, digital reputation… all these elements form the invisible treasure of a company.
Invisible, but not fictitious. It is often what is most precious, and yet the least protected.
Prior art is the legal memory. It is what existed before, what can prevent a trademark application, or feed a claim. Knowing prior art is avoiding stepping into someone else's footsteps without knowing it.
Good faith is the soft light of law.
It is doing what one says, saying what one does, and not trapping the other. Presumed to be present, it is the invisible golden thread that weaves all contracts. When it is lacking, the law darkens.
“Everything related to good faith must be settled by intention and not by words.” – Cicero
A database is an empire of organized knowledge. When it is structured, original, it is protected. And in the digital world, it becomes a strategic asset. The law ensures that it is not plundered or dispersed.
A digital lease? It is a metaphor… but sometimes very concrete.
Renting a work, a license, an API, is like occupying a property: there is a framework, a time, a right of use. Digital law invents new types of leases every day.
A contract is a promise put in black and white. It is the agreement that seals trust. Well written, it protects. Poorly drafted, it poisons.
“All contracts are made by will and power.” – Dictionary of sentences and proverbs, 1892
Counterfeiting is the theft of talent disguised as admiration. Copying without right is erasing effort, sweat, inspiration. The law protects originals and reminds that imitation is never a tribute when it violates the law.
The assignment of rights is the moment when the author agrees to share (or sell) part of their power over the work. It is a negotiation, a two-step dance: that of creation, and that of use.
Cookies are digital crumbs that we sow despite ourselves.
Small files, great consequences.
They follow, record, track... to understand, but sometimes to manipulate.
The law requires that we name them, that we choose them.
Because even a crumb can open a door.
Personal data is not just a name or an address.
It is a crumb of ourselves — our habits, our preferences, our hesitations…
It says where we click, what we search for, what we fear.
The law says that it belongs to us.
But every day, companies track it, cross it, sell it.
Protecting our data is not a luxury: it is an act of intimate sovereignty.
Each citizen must be able to sell their personal data.” – Gaspard Koenig
Property rights are the economic rights of an author. They allow revenue to be generated from a work: reproduction, distribution, adaptation... This is the "business" side of creation, and it is just as important as emotion.
Moral rights are the eternal attachment between an author and their work. One can assign their exploitation rights, but never this intimate bond. It says: "I made it, and I want it to be respected".
Exploiting a work is not damaging it: it is making it live, distributing it, monetizing it... in a framework defined by the author or the rights holder.
Any exploitation deserves authorization. Otherwise, it is disguised theft.
Art is not made to stay under a bell. It is made to circulate, but never without a compass.” – Unknown author
Entry into force is the heartbeat of a contract.
It is the moment when words come to life, when obligations are activated. Before, it was a promise. After, it is a reality.
Exclusivity is a trust granted to one person, one company.
It is saying: "I choose to work only with you". It can reassure or imprison, depending on what is done with it.
The mandatory force is the silent majesty of the contract.
Once signed, it binds, obliges, frames.
Not because we fear it, but because we believe in it.
It is the foundation on which we build lasting relationships.
Each citizen must be able to sell their personal data.” – Gaspard Koenig
Fault is not just error.
It is the moment when behavior crosses the limit of reasonableness, permission, loyalty.
The law does not judge hearts, but actions.
And sometimes, naming the fault is already starting to repair.
A franchise is the alliance of independence and support.
A contract by which a company grants another company the right to exploit its concept, its brand, in exchange for remuneration.
A framed collaboration, for shared success
The eviction warranty is the promise that we will be able to enjoy peacefully what we have acquired.
A brand, a work, a name, a right... protected from intrusions, disputes, and returns.
The law says: "You are at home. And you will stay there."
Governance is not power for its own sake: it is the art of organizing decisions, sharing roles, avoiding blind spots. This is where the law becomes a compass, and the collective takes shape without getting lost.
Managing risks is not about fearing the worst. It is knowing that every project has its uncertainties and responding to them with lucidity. Anticipating, framing, protecting: this is where the law becomes a net, not a prison.
Non-performance is the shadow of a faltering contract. When one forgets, refuses, or waives what they had promised. The law provides remedies, but we prefer to anticipate them. A good contract is a map, not a weapon.
Digital identity is what is said about you without always telling you. A footprint, a reputation, a mirror that is sometimes distorted. It is protected like a property, because it often precedes you long before you speak.
Inalienability is the refusal to transfer, sell, or exchange a property. In law, it is the seal that is placed on what cannot change hands. A moral right, a clause of use, a fundamental freedom... What is inalienable is what one decides never to trade.
Artificial intelligence is not magic, but logic. It observes, learns, guesses... sometimes better than us, sometimes without us. The law tries to frame it, not to slow it down, but to humanize what has no soul. AI is a tool. It is up to us to make it an ally, not an oracle.
Enjoyment is not a passing pleasure: it is the right to use a property, a work, a name - fully, peacefully. It is inhabiting one's right without fear or dispute. And it is sometimes where freedom begins.
Jargon is the wall of words that prevents entry. In law, it is everywhere - and often unnecessary. We translate it. Because clarity is not renouncing precision: it is choosing shared intelligence.
Acting with just title is believing one is in their right, even if they are not quite yet. It is a beautiful idea: that of good faith protected by law. Like a light that is lit before the sun rises.
License is a right of use without dispossession. One remains at home, but authorizes another to enter. It is a subtle contract, between openness and control. The digital world is full of it: software, image, brand... Each license is a bridge between the creator and the world.
Software is a language that acts. It can be protected like a work, exploited like a product, improved like a garden. Behind the lines of code, there is a thought, an intention, an author. The law protects it as one protects an idea that has become a structure.
Loyalty is not morality: it is law. It imposes transparency, respect, absence of traps. It is what makes a contract worthy of trust. And sometimes, what the law requires in silence, loyalty whispers out loud.
The brand, it's the identity of a company in one word, a logo, a sensation.
It lives in people's heads, on labels, in search engines.
It deserves to be protected like a reputation.
Metadata, these are the whispers of the file.
They say where it comes from, who created it, when, with what tool.
They are invisible to the naked eye, but talkative for those who know how to listen.
The law monitors them, because they can protect... or betray.
Passwords keep our secrets, sometimes better than we do ourselves.
They are digital locks, but also access rituals.
If they are too simple, they are forgotten. If they are too complex, they are bypassed.
Securing them means protecting our digital memory.
The commercial name, it's the identity card of an activity.
It's not always a brand, but it says who you are in business.
It carries history, voice, values.
And it deserves to be protected, because it speaks for you — often even before you introduce yourself.
The notification, it's a finger snap of the law:
"You are informed, therefore engaged."
In digital, it's often automatic — but its effects are very real.
It breaks, alerts, obliges.
And sometimes, it falls like a sentence, even silent.
Net neutrality, it's the oath that all content circulates freely, without privilege or censorship.
It's what allows a new idea to travel as fast as an established giant.
It's fragile, it's technical — but it's the very breath of a free internet.
The intellectual work, it's everything that humans imagine and shape, as long as it's original.
It can be written, drawn, sung, coded…
And once born, it's already protected.
No need for a stamp to exist.
Open source, it's the art of giving access to the code, without giving up control.
It's a philosophy of sharing, framed by licenses that set the rules of the game.
It's not abandonment: it's another mode of ownership.
More freedom, but not less rigorous.
The right to oblivion, it's the possibility of erasing a trace, a page, a version of oneself.
On the internet, everything stays — unless you ask to disappear.
This right says that digital identity is not a condemnation.
It can be revised, corrected, softened.
It's the kingdom of ideas, works, inventions of the heart and mind.
An invisible asset, but very real.
It protects what you can't see, but what gives all the value to a project.
This right is less a fence than a case.
Privacy, it's more than private life:
It's the part of us that we choose not to expose.
The law takes it over with technical words, but the stake is deeply human.
Not being monitored, not being profiled, not being reduced to data.
Privacy, it's the right to breathe in safety.
Profiling, it's what algorithms build in our place.
An image, a presumption, a suggestion.
It's not always malicious — but it can be reductive.
The law says: you have the right to know that you're being observed, and to ask to be forgotten.
Responsibility, it's what begins when intention is no longer enough.
It's responding to one's actions, repairing, assuming.
In a contract, it's limited. In life, it often overflows.
The law outlines it, but it's ethics that give it its scope.
Reputation, it's what others think… and what the digital world retains.
A fragile, precious, sometimes falsified image.
It's not protected with armor, but with consistency.
The law ensures that it's not unjustly soiled.
Reversibility, it's the right to change one's mind, system, contract.
In digital, it guarantees that you can recover your data, your access, your autonomy.
It's a safety net, but also a sign of trust:
"I welcome you, but you remain free to leave."
The business secret, it's not a trick: it's a necessity.
It's what we keep hidden to protect an idea, know-how, strategy.
It requires trust, but also precautions.
Because it's not because we say nothing… that we don't have to be protected.
The electronic signature, it's the "yes" of the 21st century.
It seals an agreement remotely, without diminishing its strength.
Invisible to the eye, but readable by law.
It combines digital fluidity with legal rigor — and it commits, fully.
Surveillance is not always visible.
It captures, crosses, anticipates — sometimes without warning.
Digital law frames it, limits it, denounces it when it overflows.
Protecting your digital life is learning to spot the glances that haven't asked for permission.
Processing data is not just storing or categorizing it.
It's extracting meaning, profile, decision from it.
Behind every click, there's a footprint.
And behind every footprint, a person.
Law reminds us that every piece of data is part of someone.
In the digital world, we leave traces like we leave footprints in the snow.
They reveal a path, sometimes without us wanting to.
Some disappear, others stick around.
Law tries to give everyone the choice of what they want to keep… or forget.
Transparency enlightens, but sometimes it burns.
In law, it's a duty: to say what we do, what we collect, what we sell.
But saying everything is not always fair.
So we look for balance: between visibility and respect, between control and trust.
This dictionary is neither closed nor fixed. It lives, like the law, like the connections, like the ideas. If a word is missing, if a notion touches you, if you want to give us your own definition of law — write to us.
We love living words. And the readers who prolong them.
