French players are not prepared to be able to resell their dematerialized video games. As reported by the Informed site, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on October 21 on a dispute between the association UFC-Que Choisir and the giant of the Steam sector, belonging to Valve.
The first required that players be offered the possibility of reselling their purchased video games in dematerialized format, as they could do with titles stored on a physical medium (cartridge, CD, etc.). At this point, the French justice finally agreed with Steam.
Copyright takes precedence
It contradicts the first sentence, issued at the end of 2019, which on the contrary had been agreed with the consumer defense association. Steam, like all similar platforms, was required to offer players the ability to resell a game purchased digitally. In fact, the high court of Paris declared illegal a clause in Steam’s terms of use that prohibited Internet users from reselling said game.
But according to the Court of Appeal, this clause is, on the contrary, perfectly legal. If the law authorizes the resale of the license of computer programs, video games, as artistic works, the question of copyright also arises. An essential point in the eyes of the appellate judges, who believe that the opening of a second-hand market in this way would harm the rights holders.
At the moment, the UFC-Que Choisir has not yet announced a possible appeal, for a possible challenge of this sentence. In the absence of the existing technical means for such resale and in the face of the irruption of access to games by subscription, the chances of one day reselling a digital game are low.
Source: BFM TV
