EU Court: You Should Be Able to Resell Digital Software

[CybrSlydr]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/...gital-software

The EU Court of Justice has issued a ruling that says people should legally be able to sell games they acquire digitally, such as through Valve Software's Steam distribution service. Prompted by a legal battle between Oracle and German company UsedSoft, who was selling "used" licenses of Oracle's software against Oracle's wishes, the case may not have originally been about games, but the ruling's language covers "computer program[s]" in general.

You can read the full ruling here, but the most poignant part for EU gamers is this section:

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 license 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.

The court is saying that anytime you pay money for a copy of a program, whether physical or digital, and have access to it for an unlimited period, that the rightholder no longer has exclusive distribution rights and no longer owns the game. You do.

HOLY **** - this is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge news!

All those EULAs saying you only own a license and not the actual game would be rendered null! FINALLY - someone says that I OWN that for which I have paid!

[maxgull]

All I have to do is move to Europe?

[WordMasterRice]

I am really surprised to see this! Common sense in a court? Who would have thunk it.

Hopefully some of that common sense will be pushed across the pond.

[Nagoshi]

Originally Posted by CybrSlydr

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/...gital-software



HOLY **** - this is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge news!

All those EULAs saying you only own a license and not the actual game would be rendered null! FINALLY - someone says that I OWN that for which I have paid!

Until the EULAs change for "Valid for one lifetime".

[BigE4u]

Hows the hoop jumping trying to resell a steam activated game from the original purchaser user/account to a different person/account?

[luckybob]

I for one support this! Now if I only BOUGHT games.... (I do sometimes)

[Nagoshi]

Originally Posted by BigE4u

Hows the hoop jumping trying to resell a steam activated game from the original purchaser user/account to a different person/account?

Assuming the court ruling ever makes it to the US, Valve is most likely going to have to integrate such a feature in Steam. Either an "used game" marketplace/auction house, or a game trading system (and you use PayPal to pay).

[DarkTower87]

Great to see this! Hopefully some people take notice state side....

Additional Comment:

Originally Posted by Nagoshi

Assuming the court ruling ever makes it to the US, Valve is most likely going to have to integrate such a feature in Steam. Either an "used game" marketplace/auction house, or a game trading system (and you use PayPal to pay).

This would be amazing!

[Bootes]

This idea would be outstanding, They will have to put in some sort of block for the ******s who want to hack and get banned, That also raises some questions to me, when a player hacks on a account, then before hes banned.. He trys to sell that account. The new player buying said "used game" is basically buying a flagged key/game and could or will be banned for "hacking" when it was the other persons fault. So some kind of Refund and or protection system would need to be put in.

[Sephious]

Originally Posted by Nagoshi

Until the EULAs change for "Valid for one lifetime".

The EULA can say whatever it wants, as the law supersedes anything the EULA says.

This is a step in the right direction, for sure.

[Scubar]

They will very quickly change it so that you are the effectively "renting" the game and thus cannot transfer the license.

[lexandro]

Originally Posted by Scubar

They will very quickly change it so that you are the effectively "renting" the game and thus cannot transfer the license.

They can't thats the point of the ruling. If you pay for a licence for any reason its your's to do with as you see fit.

[krone6]

Originally Posted by Nagoshi

Until the EULAs change for "Valid for one lifetime".

That'd defeat the purpose of selling...

[Scubar]

Originally Posted by lexandro

They can't thats the point of the ruling. If you pay for a licence for any reason its your's to do with as you see fit.

Thats where this bit comes into play

and have access to it for an unlimited period

The games companies will simply "Rent" you the game for a limited period. Thus completely nullifying this loophole.

[sysigy]

What-you saaaaay

Europe actually got something right for a change

Wow, maybe I'll rethink my opinion on the UK being a member of the EU!

Additional Comment:

Thought about it, I still want out!