Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeD
That's changed in the EU. The courts have decided if you purchase digital software such as games and apps, then the developer/publishers cannot stop you reselling that software even via an EULA.
In practice, how that will work I'm not sure. When you consider many games and apps are now tied to an account and include DRM, unless the devs/publishers are obliged to provide a way to transfer ownership it could be a toothless ruling.
Sure you can resell it, but the person you're selling it to can't use it with potentially breaking the law by removing DRM and assuming it's not dependant on an online service tied to an account.
I hope it becomes a requirement for any company that sells digitally to provide an authorised way to transfer licenses. I doubt they'll be quick to do so without a requirement to do it though.
Even without that ruling though, I have always thought that whoever is named in a will for receipt of all your physical property should also be provided an equal share of your digital items. Of course, it's one of those issues that's much easier said than done.
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The trick is, is a license that restricts resale enforceable. The answer is, not always, or, more realistically, we don't know because it hasn't gotten to the Supreme Court yet.
The legal question is, is the sale of an ebook, or mp3, or whatever, a license or a sale of goods. What it says in the license may or may not matter. Click-wrap licenses have been enforced, but not always. In Softman v. Adobe, the court ruled that (despite the click-wrap license), because there was a one time payment that gave indefinite use (rather than for a limited time), it was a "sale of goods," and therefore, the first sale doctrine applied. Other districts have ruled otherwise, and so far, nobody seems eager to get it to the Supreme Court to get it resolved for good.