Licensing Compliance Policy

Are our licenses compliant with the law?

Thanks to the first ruling of the Court of Justice of 3 July 2012, c-128/11 that legitimises the sale of refurbished software, we can offer our customers significant savings and guarantee them our reliability. By virtue of the regulations, we work hard by purchasing our software from companies throughout Europe and testing them to offer original Microsoft licenses that comply with the laws and the EU and Microsoft Software Directive Regularly Applicable.

2012 ruling:

– “European Court of Justice, judgment of 3 July 2012, case C-128/11”
Software producers cannot defend themselves from the resale of used software. The exclusive right to distribute a copy of the program is exhausted with the first sale. In this judgment, the Court states that the principle of exhaustion of the distribution right applies not only when copies of the software are sold on data carriers, but also when they are distributed by download from the company’s website.

2016 ruling:

– “Judgment of the Münster Chamber of Public Procurement of 01.03.2016, ref. VK 1-2/16”
The exclusion of used software from tenders violates the Public Procurement Act. The Münster Chamber of Public Procurement has thus made it clear that used software can no longer be excluded from tenders. The commitment to new Microsoft software violates the principle of neutrality in the tender procedure. Such a restriction could no longer be objectively justified. Used licenses do not deviate from the original. On the contrary, they cannot be distinguished from the original version. VK Münster recommends that buyers of used software obtain a certificate certifying the uninstallation of the copy. This could be agreed in the contract with a so-called exemption agreement. An additional marking of the chain of rights is not necessary and cannot be claimed.

2013 ruling:

– “Judgment of the Federal Court of Justice of 17.7.2013, Az. I ZR 129/08”
With its 2013 decision, the BGH confirmed that trading in used software licenses is legal. About a year after the European Court of Justice, the BGH also addressed the legal situation of trading in used software licenses. It confirmed the ECJ’s decision in its entirety.

2014 ruling:

– “Federal Court of Justice, judgment of 11.12.2014, file number I ZR 8/13”
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has determined that the judgment of the Court of Justice is also relevant for volume license agreements and their division. With this judgment, the BGH has rejected Adobe’s appeal in its entirety. Therefore, it now applies that software licenses from volume license agreements can be sold individually. The purchase of single used licenses from volume licenses is therefore legally safe and in no way risky for buyers of used software.

2016 ruling:

– “OLG, judgment of August 2016, ref. 406 HKO 148/16”
The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg has ruled that disclosure of the chain of rights cannot be demanded. With this decision, the Higher Regional Court prevents the claim that disclosure of the chain of rights, i.e. the previous owner of a license, is necessary for trading in used software.