The end of used game sales in the US?

Ninth Circuit appeals court disallows resale of drafting software due to EULA terms; PC, console games come with similar restrictions.

Pre-owned game sales account for a major chunk of GameStop's profits and have other retailers wanting a piece of the pie. However, a decision on Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit could imperil sales of pre-owned games--or any other software with a particularly worded end-user license agreement (EULA).

The court overturned a May 2008 decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in the case of Vernor v. Autodesk. The original decision stated that Washington resident Timothy Vernor was within his rights to sell a sealed copy of Autodesk's AutoCAD design software he got at a garage sale on eBay.

Though the copy of the software was sealed, Autodesk's EULA--which was not visible externally on the retail box--said that the software is only licensed to purchasers, not actually sold. It also said that the license cannot be transferred, so after purchase, the software had to be destroyed if not used.

The Western Washington court's decision upheld the idea that customers own the software they purchase, commonly referred to as the "You bought it, you own it" principle. The appeals court's decision, however, undermines that idea if the software has "license only" language in its EULA.

Tech blog Ars Technica pointed out that the EULAs used by Electronic Arts and many other publishers have similar language in their games. "This software is licensed to you, not sold," reads EA's EULA. "Access to the software requires software registration with the serial code enclosed with the software. Software registration is limited to one EA Account per serial code and is non-transferable."

The EA EULA is for a PC game, which typically requires acceptance of such terms to play. However, comparable wording can also be found in console game manuals, such as that of Take-Two Interactive's recent hit Red Dead Redemption.

"THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD," reads the license agreement on Red Dead Redemption. (Capital letters in original.) "You agree not to: (a) Commercially exploit the software; (b) Distribute, lease, sell, rent or otherwise transfer the software, or any copies of the software, without the express consent of the licensor." (Emphasis added.)

Inquiries sent to EA and Take-Two about the appeals court's decision were not answered as of press time. However, EA and other publishers have recently taken measures to deter pre-owned game sales, from which they earn no money.

In EA's case, it is enclosing single-use codes in new games to both award extra downloadable content and enable online modes. The latter applies to all of the Redwood City, CA-based company's sports games, which will charge buyers of pre-owned games $10 extra to access online modes. THQ recently adopted a similar model for the online modes for its wrestling and mixed martial arts games.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6275683.html

This is just overwhelming greed on the part of software developers and will ONLY lead to an upsurge in piracy. What the fuck is wrong with selling a game that you already bought? Nothing. At. All.

Well, I guess I will be torrenting more games than ever now if all this goes through. And it will mean the end of GameStop.

Snesboy wrote:Well, I guess I will be torrenting more games than ever now if all this goes through. And it will mean the end of GameStop.

Not necessarily, this ruling will likely get overturned again and probably once more beyond that... also you have to take into account that GameStop always has a much better selection of games than target, best buy, walmart etc. so people will always go there.

Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

c0n3j0 wrote:Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

You could always rock an emulator.

This appears not to have taken effect which is very good because software publishers should have no right to be able to tell you what to do with a game you already bought. Shit.. they should be happy as they've seen much less piracy than other entertainment industries..

They can try with no avail, too much money is involved here.
The possibility is depressing, though - how can I get PS1/2/Saturn/Genesis/Dreamcast/Gamecube games if they can't be sold used?

Snesboy wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

You could always rock an emulator.

It's not the same >_>

c0n3j0 wrote:

Snesboy wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

You could always rock an emulator.

It's not the same >_>

Yup... original hw > emulation...

Xen wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:

Snesboy wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

You could always rock an emulator.

It's not the same >_>

Yup... original hw > emulation...

Using an emulator and pirating the game for free >>>>>>> buying the hardware and buying the game

zex wrote:

Xen wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:

Snesboy wrote:

c0n3j0 wrote:Nuuuuuu

That's the only way I can get old games!

You could always rock an emulator.

It's not the same >_>

Yup... original hw > emulation...

Using an emulator and pirating the game for free >>>>>>> buying the hardware and buying the game

No, that's BS. It's disrespectful for the game/developers.

Xen wrote:
No, that's BS. It's disrespectful for the game/developers.

I feel so bad for being disrespectful for people I've never met and will never meet either. I cry at night thinking how disrespectful I am

zex wrote:

Xen wrote:
No, that's BS. It's disrespectful for the game/developers.

I feel so bad for being disrespectful for people I've never met and will never meet either. I cry at night thinking how disrespectful I am

Then I have succeeded! YES!

damkira wrote:This appears not to have taken effect which is very good because software publishers should have no right to be able to tell you what to do with a game you already bought. Shit.. they should be happy as they've seen much less piracy than other entertainment industries..

Yea hopefully they don't try again. I mean used game sales are half the reason the console markets can last so long.