Non-Profit Project Owners: Crowdfunding and Public Interest Litigation in the Digital Age

This chapter addresses the rising phenomenon of crowdfunding for public interest litigation as a distinct category of donation-based crowdfunding, falling outside of the scope of the Crowdfunding Regulation. The rise in the use of crowdfunding for public interest litigation cases results from the fact that such cases are undeniably expensive. Legal costs are high, running into the hundreds of thousands of euros depending on numerous factors such as, inter alia, the nature of the legal question(s) discussed, the number of parties and of counsels involved, and the number of appeals. As a result, it appears that crowdfunding is progressively emerging as a means to ensure access to justice for non-private interest claims. The chapter then considers the challenges and opportunities of crowdfunded public interest litigation.