Update: US Federal court upholds first sale doctine and finds in favor of the eBay seller:
Quote:The US District Court in Seattle on Wednesday ruled in favor of eBay seller Timothy S. Vernor, denying Autodeskâs request for âsummary judgmentâ against Vernor. In doing so the court ruled that Vernor had the right to appeal for relief from Autodesk actions based on the âfirst saleâ doctrine of copyright law. In finding for Vernor, Judge Richard Jonesâ ruling dismissed most of Autodeskâs wide-ranging legal arguments as without standing.
If allowed to stand, the ruling effectively pulls the heart out of the license agreements that accompany most retail software products on the market today. You can be sure that not only Autodesk, but most software companies, will take action of some sort in response. It is unimaginable that Autodesk will not appeal this decision...
full article:
http://aecnews.com/news/2008/05/21/3414.aspx
Ars with more on the ruling:
Quote:Autodesk argued that it only licenses copies of its software, rather than selling them, and that therefore any resale of the software constitutes copyright infringement.
But Judge Richard A. Jones rejected that argument, holding that Vernor is entitled to sell used copies of Autodesk's software regardless of any licensing agreement that might have bound the software's previous owners...
full article:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...tware.html