The Legality of Resale of Digital Content after UsedSoft in Subsequent German and CJEU Case Law

Abstract

When the UsedSoft judgment was rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union the reaction of the public, professional and lay, was tremendous. However, soon enough the future impact of the judgment was being described as either a meteor or (more likely) a single one-shot comet. More than two years after the UsedSoft judgment, with a growing amount of case law on the matter, the aim of this article is to thoroughly examine post-UsedSoft case law regarding digital exhaustion, particularly in relation to digital content other than software, in Germany and before the CJEU.

Keywords: Audio recordings, Computer games, E-books, EU law, Exhaustion of rights, Germany, Resale right, Software