Digital goods explained

Digital goods or e-goods are intangible goods that exist in digital form.[1] Examples are Wikipedia articles; digital media, such as e-books, downloadable music, internet radio, internet television and streaming media; fonts, logos, photos and graphics; digital subscriptions; online ads (as purchased by the advertiser); internet coupons; electronic tickets; electronically treated documentation in many different fields; downloadable software (Digital Distribution) and mobile apps; cloud-based applications and online games; virtual goods used within the virtual economies of online games and communities; workbooks; worksheets; planners; e-learning (online courses); webinars, video tutorials, blog posts; cards; patterns; website themes; templates.loan

Legal concerns about digital goods

Special legal concerns regarding digital goods include copyright infringement and taxation.

Also the question of the ownership (versus licensed use or service only) of purely digital goods is not finally resolved. For instance, the software installers of the digital software distributor gog.com are technically independent to the account but are still subject to the EULA, where a "licensed, not sold" formulation is used.[2] Therefore, it is not clear if the software can be legally used after a hypothetical loss of the account; a question which was also raised before in practice for the similar service Steam.[3] In July 2012, for instance for the European Union the European Court of Justice ruled in the case UsedSoft vs. Oracle that the sale of a software product, either through a physical support or download, constituted a transfer of ownership in EU law, thus the first sale doctrine applies; the ruling thereby breaks the "licensed, not sold" legal theory, but leaves open numerous questions.[4] Therefore, it is also permissible to resell software licenses even if the digital good has been downloaded directly from the Internet, as the first-sale doctrine applied whenever software was originally sold to a customer for an unlimited amount of time, thus prohibiting any software maker from preventing the resale of their software by any of their legitimate owners.[5] [6] [7] The court requires that the previous owner must no longer be able to use the licensed software after the resale, but finds that the practical difficulties in enforcing this clause should not be an obstacle to authorizing resale, as they are also present for software which can be installed from physical supports, where the first-sale doctrine is in force.[8] [9] The ruling applies to the European Union, but could indirectly find its way to North America; moreover the situation could entice publishers to offer platforms for a secondary market.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Digital Goods. Webopedia. 3 April 2008. 23 March 2013.
  2. Web site: GOG.com End-User License Agreement Glaiza Gaspar - Academia.edu.
  3. Web site: Thought: Do We Own Our Steam Games? . . John . Walker. 2012-02-01 . 2014-12-27 . I asked gamer lawyer Jas Purewal about this a short while back, not specifically about Valve, and he explained that the matter is still unresolved. “In fact,” he says, “it’s never been completely resolved for software generally[...].
  4. Web site: The legality of second hand software sales in the EU . Jas Purewal . gamerlaw.co.uk. Jas Purewal . (mirror on gamasutra.com)
  5. Web site: Oracle loses court fight over software resale rules. A European court has ruled that it's permissible to resell software licenses even if the package has been downloaded directly from the Internet. It sided with a German firm in its legal battle with US giant Oracle. . 2012-07-03 . 2014-12-30 . hg/mz (AFP, dpa) . dw.de.
  6. Web site: European Courts Rule In Favor Of Consumers Reselling Downloaded Games . . Greg . Voakes . 2012-07-03 . 2014-12-30 . Could this be the victory we need for a “gamer’s bill of rights” ? DRM is an oft-cited acronym, and resonates negatively in the gaming community. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of reselling downloaded games. Simply put, legally purchased and downloaded games will be treated like physical copies of the game, and consumers can then sell their ‘used’ game..
  7. Web site: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber) . 2012-07-03 . (Legal protection of computer programs — Marketing of used licences for computer programs downloaded from the internet — Directive 2009/24/EC — Articles 4(2) and 5(1) — Exhaustion of the distribution right — Concept of lawful acquirer). InfoCuria - Case-law of the Court of Justice . 2014-12-30.
  8. Web site: Top EU court upholds right to resell downloaded software . Timothy B. Lee . 2012-07-03 . Ars Technica.
  9. Web site: EU Court OKs Resale of Software Licenses. AP.