4 ms·

No they can't http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Co._v._Straus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Co._v._Straus The interesting one is - what i

by ouhjygj 16y ago

No they can't http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Co._v._Straus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Co._v._Straus The interesting one is - what if Ford claimed you only licensed the software in your car and couldn't sell it used?

jellicle 16y ago
You mean to say "No they couldn't, until the courts decided to revisit the issue", which is exactly what is happening now.
- anigbrowl 16y ago
  Well, they do draw a distinction between first sale by an owner of a copy, and sale by a licensee. You buy a book, generally there are no preconditions on your opening it, whether in the store or at home. So since there are no apparent constraints, there's no scope for an agreement to exist between you and the publisher. But if I publish 'Secret strategies of ____ industry leaders' for $1000, and require prospective purchasers to agree not to distribute their copy for 5 years before I accept their order (many industries have such expensive trade publications), that's very different from a regular book purchase - you don't get the information until you've acknowledged the conditions of sale, so it's a lot easier to say I only licensed that readership of that copy. I don't like this decision at all, * but the Court is not just rewriting things on a whim - rather, it addresses specific holdings in other cases about whether a transfer was a grant of license or a sale, and relies on those to conclude Autodesk issued a limited license and was entitled to enforce the agreements that underpinned it. * Indeed, the court doesn't sound too thrilled about the ramifications either, probably because they judges foresee an avalanche of tediously similar cases as a direct consequence of their holding.
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    >You buy a book, generally there are no preconditions on your opening it, whether in the store or at home. So since there are no apparent constraints, there's no scope for an agreement to exist between you and the publisher. So book publishers need to add a wrapper license and some plastic wrap and can then sue anyone selling second hand books. Hoorah for capitalism over common sense.

by ouhjygj 16y ago

jellicle 16y ago

You mean to say "No they couldn't, until the courts decided to revisit the issue", which is exactly what is happening now.

anigbrowl 16y ago
Well, they do draw a distinction between first sale by an owner of a copy, and sale by a licensee. You buy a book, generally there are no preconditions on your opening it, whether in the store or at home. So since there are no apparent constraints, there's no scope for an agreement to exist between you and the publisher. But if I publish 'Secret strategies of ____ industry leaders' for $1000, and require prospective purchasers to agree not to distribute their copy for 5 years before I accept their order (many industries have such expensive trade publications), that's very different from a regular book purchase - you don't get the information until you've acknowledged the conditions of sale, so it's a lot easier to say I only licensed that readership of that copy. I don't like this decision at all, * but the Court is not just rewriting things on a whim - rather, it addresses specific holdings in other cases about whether a transfer was a grant of license or a sale, and relies on those to conclude Autodesk issued a limited license and was entitled to enforce the agreements that underpinned it. * Indeed, the court doesn't sound too thrilled about the ramifications either, probably because they judges foresee an avalanche of tediously similar cases as a direct consequence of their holding.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  >You buy a book, generally there are no preconditions on your opening it, whether in the store or at home. So since there are no apparent constraints, there's no scope for an agreement to exist between you and the publisher. So book publishers need to add a wrapper license and some plastic wrap and can then sue anyone selling second hand books. Hoorah for capitalism over common sense.