COMPUTERWOCHE ONLINE: "COURT DECISION CONFIRMS RESALE OF MICROSOFT VOLUME LICENCES"
In its current online edition, the IT magazine Computerwoche reports on the latest decision of the Hamburg Regional Court referring to the trade with used software. In the view of the judges, also the resale of used Microsoft licences belonging to a volume contract is fully legitimate. With this decision the court refused to follow the reasoning of the plaintiff, an appointed Microsoft dealer, who had argued that due to the favourable terms granted in this kind of transaction a splitting was illegal.
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KOMMUNIKATION & RECHT (K&R): "THE COPYRIGHT RELIABILITY OF RESELLING USED SOFTWARE"
Olaf Sosnitza, areputed professor for Copyright and Commercial Law at the Würzburg Julius-Maximilian University, underlines the legality of reselling second-hand software - regardless the way the software licences have been brought into transit.
In his article for the law magazine "Kommunikation & Recht", Sosnitza states that the exhaustion rule, which constitutes the legal basis for the resale of "used" licences, can also be applied analogously to software purchased via internet download,
since there are no legal objections to that. Moreover, he considers it to be a "strange" consequence", if by choosing the way of transfer the originator himself had the right to determine whether the software dis-tributed by him has expired or not.
According to Sosnitza, the rationale of the developers is "in fact nothing but a workaround to hedge the current pricing policy of software enterprises".
 See here for the publisher's website
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ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR URHEBER UND MEDIENRECHT (ZUM): "USED SOFTWARE AND EXHAUSTION RULE: FRAMEWORK FOR A SECOND-HAND SOFTWARE MARKET"In its edtitons of 04/2006 of the magazine ZUM, the renowned expert in IT and Copyright Law Dr. Malte Grützmacher deals with the judgement of the Munich Regional Court concerning the trade with used Oracle licences. His conclusion: Software downloaded online has got to be as eligible for resale as software bound to package media. To Grützmacher, the differentiation between the two ways of transfer made in this judement means that the Regional Court "has not yet arrived in the information age", as the resale of software via online is day-by-day reality: Therefore, the exhaustion rule, according to which the developer's right of his product expires the very moment it is brought into transit for the first time, has to be applicable to software transferred online by download. A compilation of the most important assumptions from the article can be READ here or can be DOWNLOADED.
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IT MANAGEMENT: "LICENCES PROVIDE REASONS FOR LAWSUITS"The reputed branch magazine "IT Management" dedicates the leading article in its March edition to the Oracle judgement. The reporter Tonio Grawe stresses that the differentiation between digital and physical distribution of software doesn't make sense and hopes for clarification in the court of appeal. Grawe states that the judgement has brought up numerous unanswered questions. E.g., how should Oracle licences, which are worthless since they are not eligible for resale, be evaluated in terms of accounting? And why does oracle sell licences in the first place, as the ownership transfer typical to sales contracts has supposedly not occurred? It would be fair if the licences at least were offered for free within the framework of maintenance contracts. Moreover, the reporter criticises Oracle's confusing information politics, coercing even the Regional Court into a judgement.
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COMPUTER-ZEITUNG: "PROGRAMS ON CD REMAIN TRADEABLE"The magazine Computer-Zeitung reports with reference to a declaration of the Munich Regional Court that dealing with "used" software licencen continues to be legal and that Oracle has only tried to cause confusion by stating a contrary declaration. In the article, the independent lawyer Sabine Heukroth-Bauer advises companies to always ask for a CD when purchasing software, in order to retain right to resell the product on a later date.
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COMPUTER-ZEITUNG: "AN ARTIFICIAL DIFFERENTIATION"The journalist of the magazine Computer-Zeitung makes positively clear that enterprises need to be able to resell usage rights for software. In his opinion, this should be the case regardless whether the companies themselves have purchased the software through package media or download.
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COMPUTERPARTNER: "DEALING WITH 'USED' SOFTWARE LICENCES"In a detailed analysis, the magazine "ComputerPartner", one of the leading print media for the IT sector, ascertains that following the Oracle judgement the "second-hand trade" with all other kinds of software continues to be legally secure. Among other sources, the editorial office quotes the independent attorney-at-law Sabine Heukroth-Bauer, who states in round terms as follows: "Any person who owns software products rendered useless can resell them without restrictions."
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ITRESELLER (SCHWEIZ): ORACLE TRIES TO STRONG-ARM SECOND-HAND TRADER USEDSOFTIn its online edition of Februar 13, 2006, the swiss computer magazine iTReseller enlightens the lawsuit between the software producer Oracle and usedSoft. The Artikel "Oracle tries to strong-arm second-hand trader usedSoft" makes clear that the injunction effected by Oracle can exclusively be applied to oracle licences acquired per internet download. According to the article, the court had not even dealt with the distribution of other software licences. Also usedSoft CEO Peter Schneider seriously doubts whether Oracle will be able to maintain its position before the court of appeal. In his view it is very doubtful for Oracle to claim a sales price from customers without conveying the ownership, as it should be the case in such transaction, but which Oracle admits not to do.
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