EU Rules You Can Resell Downloaded Games
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...nloaded-games/
The preliminary ruling states,
“The first sale in the EU of a copy of a computer program by the copyright holder or with his consent exhausts the right of distribution of that copy in the EU. A rightholder who has marketed a copy in the territory of a Member State of the EU thus loses the right to rely on his monopoly of exploitation in order to oppose the resale of that copy… 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.”This is some really interesting and potentially very important stuff going down here. This is probably one of the first rulings I've seen where they have declared that by purchasing software even if done digitally means you own that software which in turn means that places like Origin or Steam can't just ban you from accessing games you've purchased and thus own. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.“Such a transaction involves a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy.”
That sentence is a really massive deal. It’s the very first time there has been any official sense of ownership via digital distribution, and if it gets implemented by courts, it’s going to change a great deal. From our having the legal right to sell games in our Origin accounts, right down to surely taking away the ability for companies like Valve and EA to block customers’ access to their purchased games for other infractions.
