Court: resale of software licenses is allowed

Users may resell software including licenses. This has been ruled by the European Court of Justice. Both physical software and downloads may be resold, although the seller must delete downloads from its own system.

After the software is sold, a supplier must waive its ‘exclusive right’ to distribute the software, giving each buyer the right to resell it as second-hand software. In addition, the new buyer does not have to buy his own software license. That judges the European Court of Justice in a case that software farmer Oracle brought against supplier of second-hand software UsedSoft. The German judge had referred that case to the Court.

The ruling applies to both physical software products and software that is distributed via download. In doing so, the original owner must relinquish the software; in the case of downloads, this means that the software download must be removed from the seller’s PC.

“The copyright holder of the software may check whether this has happened,” explains ICT lawyer Arnoud Engelfriet. He calls the ruling a “groundbreaking ruling” and a “great boost for people who buy software licenses and are frustrated by the high prices.”