Software Sold or Licensed? Court Says Sold
An intriguing court decision found that a man re-selling legitimate licenses to Autodesk's expensive CAD software was acting legally under the first-sale doctrine that enables used book and music sales in the United States. The court said that while Autodesk says it licensed its software, the license walks and talks like a sale, and thus the software can be resold. Many software makers restrict or bar sales, and that may now not hold. Autodesk will appeal the ruling.