CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY
Legality of sold products.
The undersigned, EMPENDO DISTRIBUTION SRL, with headquarters in Bucharest, Str. Rosia Montana, No. 1, Bl. 17, Sc. 2, Et. 6, Ap. 68, Sector 6, holding identification data CIF RO38349181 and Trade Registry Number J40/17386/2017, hereby declares that the products sold on https://epickeys.eu are in full compliance with European Union legislation.
EMPENDO DISTRIBUTION SRL sells licenses legally acquired from globally certified suppliers. We do not sell volume licenses. Where a license is marked RETAIL or OEM in the product description or title, this guarantees that the license key you are purchasing has not been used on another device.
All licenses sold on EpicKeys are delivered electronically by email, immediately after payment confirmation or, at the latest, within the same day.
Important note
Legality of sold products.
• According to the Microsoft license agreement, the license is intended for one-time activation, unless otherwise specified on the product page.
• Simultaneous activation of the license on multiple devices is prohibited, see Microsoft Terms and Conditions.
• See also Microsoft Data Protection Statement.
According to the decision given by Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in 2012, it turns out that reselling software licenses is possible.
The CJEU decision in the case Case C-128/11 UsedSoft GmbH v Oracle International Corp. concludes that:
“A computer program author cannot oppose the resale of his licenses without an expiration date, which allow the use of his programs downloaded from the Internet. But also that the exclusive right to distribute a copy of a computer program covered by such a license is exhausted upon its first sale.”
The CJEU’s conclusion is that reselling licenses is legal. The ruling creates a new legal framework for reselling companies to develop their activity and thus customers end up paying much lower prices.
The CJEU decision provides the following aspects:
- The principle of exhaustion of the distribution right applies not only when the copyright holder sells copies of his computer programs on a material medium (CD-ROM, DVD or STICK), but also when he distributes them by downloading from his website. From which it follows that licenses purchased in ESD – RETAIL format (electronic licenses) can also be resold.
- When the copyright holder makes a copy – whether tangible or intangible – available to his client and at the same time concludes, in exchange for payment of a price, that gives the client the right to use this copy for an unlimited period, this holder sells this copy to the client and thus exhausts his exclusive distribution right. Thus, the legally held license can be transferred to a single person only once, only for an indefinite period (it cannot be rented).
- Therefore, although the license agreement prohibits further transmission, the right holder can no longer oppose the resale of this copy. Even if there is a contract between the licensor and the end user in which the user waives the right to sell the license, the contract becomes NULL.
- The Court states that the initial acquirer of a tangible or intangible copy of a computer program, in respect of which the copyright holder’s distribution right has been exhausted, must render the copy downloaded to his computer unusable at the time of resale. Once the license is sold to another third party, the buyer (who becomes the seller) no longer has the right to use or distribute that license.
History of legal decisions and regulations regarding the resale of Software products
Legality of sold products.
In the early 2000s, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that a computer program (OEM version), which was introduced on the market by the manufacturer or with its consent, can still be distributed even without the associated hardware.
Decision of the Federal Court of Justice of 6 July 2000, case no. I ZR 244/97 (in German)
Published in May 2001, EU Directive 2001/29/EC harmonised the exhaustion of copyright on which the entire concept of software is based. “The first sale of the original of a work or of copies thereof within the Community by the copyright holder or with his consent exhausts the right to control its resale within the Community.” EU Directive 2001/29/EC
In the request for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) in case C-41/04 Levob Verzekeringen BV, OV Bank NV/Staatssecretaris van Financiën (in English) from May 2005 it is indicated that:
“The first sale of a copy of a computer program within the Community by the rightholder or with his consent exhausts the right to distribute that copy in the Community” Article 4(c), second sentence of Directive 91/250. Consequently, the first purchaser can effectively transfer the reproduced property to a third party without the need for the consent of the author. Therefore, the first purchaser can dispose of tangible property as the owner.
As the legal acquirer of the original data carrier, a third party is also authorized to use the program recorded on media or medialess media, in accordance with the purpose for which it was designed. The contractual prohibition on the transfer of the right of use that the producer agreed with the first purchaser is not binding on third parties.
In 2006, the Hamburg Regional Court confirmed that exhaustion of copyright also applies to individual copies of a computer program purchased through Microsoft volume licensing agreements.
Judgment of the Hamburg Regional Court in case 315 O 343/06 (in German)
In 2009, Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council specified that “The first sale of a copy of a computer program within the Community by the rightholder or with his consent exhausts the right to distribute that copy in the Community, with the exception of the right to control subsequent rentals of the computer program or a copy thereof”.
Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
“A computer software author cannot object to the resale of his “second-hand” licenses allowing the use of his programs downloaded from the Internet.”
“The exclusive right to distribute a copy of a computer program covered by such a license is exhausted upon its first sale.”
“On the other hand, the exhaustion of the distribution right extends to the copy of the computer program sold, as corrected and updated by the copyright holder.”
“Furthermore, the Court states that the initial acquirer of a tangible or intangible copy of a computer program, in respect of which the copyright holder’s distribution right has been exhausted, must render the copy downloaded to his computer unusable at the time of its resale.”
Decision of the Court of Justice, case C-128/11, UsedSoft GmbH/Oracle International Corp.
The original purchaser of a copy of a computer program, accompanied by an unlimited use license, may resell that copy and its license to a new purchaser.
