Case law on used software

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), as the highest judicial body of the European Union, has provided final clarity with its ruling and declared the trade in used computer programs to be fundamentally legal.

The ECJ also ruled that the sale of used software is permissible even if the software is transferred online.

On 17 July 2013, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) fully confirmed the ECJ’s fundamental decision with regard to the underlying legal issues.

The ECJ ruling also applies to volume licenses and their splitting. The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main confirmed this in a case between Adobe and usedSoft.

In their reasoning, the 13 judges of the Grand Chamber clearly stated that the exhaustion principle applies to every first sale of software. The ECJ even ruled that the second purchaser of online transferred licenses, the software may be downloaded again from the manufacturer: "Moreover, the exhaustion of the distribution right extends to the copy of the program in the version improved and updated by the copyright holder," the ECJ stated. The Court thus went significantly beyond the Opinion of the ECJ Advocate General of 24 April 2012.

VOLUME LICENSES AND THEIR SPLITTING ARE ALSO LEGAL

In a subsequent ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main in a case between Adobe and usedSoft, the further consequences of the ECJ ruling were impressively confirmed: The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt ruled that the ECJ ruling also applies to volume licensing agreements and their splitting. The Federal Court of Justice dismissed Adobe's appeal in its entirety on December 11, 2014 (case no. I ZR 8/13). This upheld the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt's ruling in the final instance.

• IT Business: ECJ: Download licenses may be resold
• Financial Times Deutschland: Smart judgment on second-hand software
• Spiegel.de: Used software may be resold
• Bild.de: Used licenses may be resold
• WELT ONLINE: ECJ: Software licenses may be resold
• ComputerBild.de: EU Court: Sale of used software licenses is permitted
• crn.de: Oracle loses dispute over download software
• ChannelBiz: European Court of Justice rules in favor of UsedSoft
• Online PC: usedSoft wins: European Court of Justice gives green light for used software trade
• golem.de: Used software licenses may be resold
• ITReseller.ch: EU declares sale of used software legal
• n-TV.de: Trade in used software - sales are generally permitted

According to Microsoft's licensing terms, the product key is intended for one-time activation. The term of use is unlimited as long as the product is used on the same device. If the computer is reformatted, reinstalled, or any hardware changes are made, there is no guarantee that the key will continue to work on the PC. Furthermore, you are prohibited from activating the key on multiple devices; see Microsoft's Terms of Use.https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/rechtliche-hinweise/nutzungsbedingungen.aspx)

See also Microsoft Privacy Policy
(https://privacy.microsoft.com/de-de/privacystatement/).

You can find the license terms for your respective product at https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/useterms There you can select the product for which you are purchasing the product key and view the specific license terms.

Microsoft Office Installation Instructions The installation instructions apply to the following versions: ✔ Microsoft Word ✔ Microsoft Excel ✔ Microsoft Outlook ✔ Microsoft PowerPoint ✔ Microsoft Publisher ✔ Microsoft Access ✔ Microsoft Visio Standard ✔ Microsoft Visio Professional ✔ Microsoft Project Standard ✔ Microsoft Project Professional Step 1 Before we can start with the installation, make sure that pre-installed Office packages or programs are uninstalled from your computer. You can completely remove these manually or with the help of an uninstallation tool. Step 2 Now go to our download page using the download link and download the correct bit version. Step 3 Right-click on the Start/Windows symbol and open the Explorer tab. Step 4 Now open the Downloads folder. Step 5 Run the download file. Step 6 Now click on Yes to allow changes to be made to your computer. Step 7 In the following window, click on Install. Step 8 Wait until the red bar has completely loaded. Be patient. This can take a few minutes. Step 9 After the red bar has finished loading, you can click on Close to complete the installation. Step 10 Now your package is installed and the programs are on your computer. The package now only needs to be activated. To do this, click on the Start/Windows symbol, type in Word and then open the program. Step 11 Click the Account tab in the bottom left corner of the program. Step 12 Now click Change Product Key under Product Information. Step 13 Enter the product key in the field and click Activate Office. To avoid typos, we recommend that you copy the product key from the email and then paste it into the field. Step 14 Now click Agree and start Word. Step 15 Then close the program, open it again and navigate to the Account tab as in step 11. Step 16 You will now receive a message that the product is activated. The Office package has now been successfully installed and activated. Softwarewelt24 wishes you lots of fun with your new Office package!