Can software licences be sold freely?
Yes. The trade with used licences is generally legal. The legal foundation of the trade provides the so-called “Exhaustion Rule” in the German copyright law (UrhG), based on the fact that the developer’s copyright expires the very moment the merchandise is sold. In its judgement of July 6th, 2000, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided that the distribution right of the developer expires after the licence has been brought into transit by selling it initially and with the approval of the developer, and that the program referred to is “free for any further resale”. This means, the developer can only once make profit of the sale of his product. Attempts from the developers’ side to restrain the trade with used software licences through specific trade terms are incompatible with the principle of the exhaustion rule and the decision of the Federal Court of Justice, and thus are basically ineffective.
