Autodesk sued for $10 million after invoking DMCA to stop eBay resales

Ars Technica ^ | September 13, 2007 | Jacqui Cheng

[antiRepublicrat]

I believe First Sale trumps license terms. It's about time software companies realize their products have to play by the same rules as all other copyrighted works.

[freepertoo]

I have CAD through AutoDesk...it was a foregone conclusion, I thought, that a resale was a big (a very big) no-no. That software is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, however. I got a discount as an interior design student or I could never have afforded it.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I believe First Sale trumps license terms. It’s about time software companies realize their products have to play by the same rules as all other copyrighted works.

---

Except that the “rules” (federal law) are different.

[lesser_satan]

I’m still running Autocad 2000, but I only use it for wireframe stuff. Any solid modeling I do gets done with Esprit. I don’t know how there current offerings measure up, but Autodesk always seemed very weak on surfaces & solids.

[jdietz]

I wonder whay this ruling could do to Microsoft. Their policy is that Microsoft software cannot be resold.

[Sloth]

Reminds me of that idiot Garth Brooks trying to shut down used CD sales back in the early 90s.

[twigs]

Same here. I bought it last year for my ID student daughter. I paid more so that she could use it for longer than the one year. The firm where she now works uses different software, so I suppose that I paid more needlessly. It’s very expensive.

[antiRepublicrat]

Except that the “rules” (federal law) are different.

Copyright, and the DMCA, is federal. 17 U.S.C. §109(a):

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 (3), the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord.

I know the precedent is contradictory these days, but the plain language and intent is that First Sale trumps the EULA. It has trumped such attempts for almost a hundred years, and companies should not be able to get around it with semantics.

[antiRepublicrat]

Their policy is that Microsoft software cannot be resold.

Microsoft tried to nail a guy selling OEM Windows on eBay, and he counter-sued. Microsoft dropped it when it got public and later settled the counter-suit, but kept the terms secret. Microsoft also worked with eBay to have legitimate (even retail shrink-wrapped) auctions of its software pulled, and the resultant ire of the eBay users covered up.

It looks like Microsoft doesn't like first sale, but they don't want to push it through the courts.

[ShadowAce]

[El Conservador]

I use MicroStation anyway, so I don’t care.

[N3WBI3]

As law first sale would defiantly trump a EULA, you can not sign a contract that restricts a legally ranted right. The solution for companies like AutoDesk is to go straight to a subscription model rather than try to sell software and claim you can resell..

[evets]

You mean Chris Gaines?

[antiRepublicrat]

As law first sale would defiantly trump a EULA, you can not sign a contract that restricts a legally ranted right.

It gets better if you think of it the other way around. The only thing that keeps you from selling as many copies as you want in the first place is copyright law, which gives that right to the author. Since copyright law explicitly does not grant the author the right to control sales beyond the first sale, it is not within the author's rights to prevent such sales no matter what he puts in a EULA.

[N3WBI3]

But doncha know copyright protections are only for corporations, not users..

[Texas_Jarhead]

"Microsoft also worked with eBay to have legitimate (even retail shrink-wrapped) auctions of its software pulled, and the resultant ire of the eBay users covered up."

This happened to me. It was absurd.

[tutstar]

ping...

[Bender2]

Twice I had crap like this sprung on me over selling Zippo Lighters and Tuskegee Airmen items...

Both times, it was a con job demanding I pay them a licensing fee for selling items I bought from legal wholesalers for resale!

I told both...

And I do no carry any Zippo Lighters nor Tuskegee Airmen pins or wings anymore and will burn in Hell before I pay them one red cent!

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[Disambiguator]

Do you have any more Zippos?