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buying software on ebay

the legal aspects

         

benihana

11:11 am on Mar 19, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



there is another post on this somewhere, but it never recieved any answers and the post is now locked, so ill try again.

has anyone had any experience of buying 2nd hand software from ebay?

is it allowed to buy an original, say, photoshop disc and then register it with adobe?

if i buy an original disc, do i then own the licence?

if somethings been registered to the previous owner would i then be breaking the law, or is there a way to *transfer* the registration?

im not talking about blatant copied s/w, but seemingly legit originals.

anyone have any info on this?
thanks
ben

Dreamquick

12:08 pm on Mar 19, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



You need to make sure that when you buy the software that it comes with a licence - if in doubt about anything in an auction get it confirmed in writing / email as once you bid it's supposed to be legally binding.

if i buy an original disc, do i then own the licence?

As far as I know, if you buy an 2nd hand (original) disc you own that disc but not the license - you will need to check the original licence terms that come with the software as the exact rules will vary.

The only obvious exceptions are shrink-wrapped software for which you are the first owner and the seller is just reselling the software in an unopened state.

Personally I've had mixed experience with EBay software - some were perfectly legitimate, others seemed legitimate but I didn't ask enough questions and they turned out to to be less than legitimate but *exactly* as described which left me with very little comeback with the seller...

The annoying part is that unless the purchase goes horribly wrong nobody will give out a negative "vote" - especially people trying to build up their score.

If in doubt ask any questions you need to know the answer to before you bid.

- Tony

felix

5:50 pm on Mar 21, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Here is an exerpt from the Flash MX eula. I'm sure it's pretty representative of the industry as a whole.

(d) Other than with respect to a Trial Version or a Not For Resale Version of the Software, you may permanently transfer all of your rights under this EULA only as part of a sale or transfer....

It goes to say that the seller gives up everything that came with it and retains no copies.

benihana

11:08 am on Mar 26, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



thanks