A higher German court has ruled to uphold a decision by a lower court to ban the sale of used software licenses, in a case involving a subsidiary of Oracle.
The Appellate Court of Munich ruled on Thursday that the sale of used software licenses is illegal, upholding a decision reached by the District Court of Munich on Jan. 19, which ruled that the sale of software licenses by Soft infringed upon copyrights held by Oracle International.
The most recent decision is of significant importance, Oracle said, as it clarifies a decision reached in July 2000 by the German Federal Supreme Court that prompted the launch of companies selling used software licenses.
At the time, the court ruled that the first sale of a license for software on tangible media, such as a CD-ROM, limits the manufacturer’s right to restrict the resale of the media under certain conditions.
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