In a pretty big blow to publishers, the European Union’s Court of Justice has ruled that, despite what the EULA says, people are absolutely within their rights to resell their digital software to someone else. This ruling applies to all kinds of software, not just video games.
“An author of software cannot oppose the resale of his ‘used’ licenses allowing the use of his programs downloaded from the internet,” said the court. “… Such a transaction involves a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy. Therefore, even if the license prohibits a further transfer, the right-holder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy.”
While this is a great victory for consumers’ rights, we still have a ways to go. This ruling only applies to Europe so far, so everyone else is still out of luck. On top of that, there is currently no way to resell your digital games. Though, while Europeans may not be as sue-crazy as us Americans are, I imagine that there will be lawsuits filed against the likes of Valve, EA, Microsoft, Sony, and anyone else with a digital storefront in Europe for not providing a way to resell your digital games. Here’s hoping this kind of ruling comes to the US.
