EU court rules second-hand sales of digital goods legal

OldManFunk

'The principle of exhaustion of the distribution right applies not only where the copyright holder markets copies of his software on a material medium (CD-ROM or DVD) but also where he distributes them by means of downloads from his website. Where the copyright holder makes available to his customer a copy – tangible or intangible – and at the same time concludes, in return form payment of a fee, a licence agreement granting the customer the right to use that copy for an unlimited period, that rightholder sells the copy to the customer and thus exhausts his exclusive distribution right. Such a transaction involves a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy.

'Therefore, even if the licence agreement prohibits a further transfer, the rightholder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy.'

...

'In addition to full-version software downloads - including, we note, Microsoft's $39.99 upgrade offer for Windows 8 - the ruling would also affect downloadable content (DLC) for games. In the cases where a game is provided with a single-use code for add-on content - a common method for discouraging second-hand purchases of retail console games - publishers will now need to provide a means for users to transfer that content to a third party in the event of the game being sold.'

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2012/07/04/curia-digital-distribution/1

 

This could get interesting.

StoneRoses

There is alrady a thread started! You are a bit late!

Irus

Originally posted by StoneRoses

There is alrady a thread started! You are a bit late!

Where is it, then?