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If he bought it off eBay, it's not a legal copy in the USA. Software is licensed, not sold; and software licenses are nontransferrable.



That doesn't seem to be the case since 2009: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=148be5c9-c0d4... (or at least it was properly tested then)

Has anything changed since then? It seems Adobe CC was created not long after, so... maybe not a coincidence?


That decision was overturned on appeal. Vernor v. Autodesk was the specific case I had in mind.


Thank you for the reference! It was quite eye-opening.

This is the Wikipedia page about the case (to make it easier for others):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernor_v._Autodesk,_Inc.


A (somewhat) serious question: since Autodesk, Adobe, etc. can use Shrinkwrap/Clickwrap/Browserwrap to distinguish between a sale and a license what's stopping users from doing it right back?

What if my browser sent custom headers to Adobe saying that by serving me a webpage Adobe has agreed to sell me, not license, a copy of each new edition of any software they release for $1 in perpetuity and that a breach of contract would result in liquidated damages of $10,000 per undelivered copy.

If I'm bound by Adobe's Terms of Service before I've had a chance to read them by nature of the my browser's request then surely Adobe would be similarly bound to my Terms of Servers(TM) by nature of their response?


Wouldn't work, as custom headers are not reviewed by a person at any point.

If I'm bound by Adobe's Terms of Service before I've had a chance to read them by nature of the my browser's request then surely Adobe would be similarly bound to my Terms of Servers(TM) by nature of their response?

You're not bound until you have had the opportunity to review the TOS. Meaning that merely accessing a page from somewhere else (i.e., a link or url) isn't enough--but once you're on (or revisiting) their website, if you interact with it in any matter beyond visiting the TOS page the TOS would apply even if you chose not to read it.


Right of first sale overrides that, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine

Of course, the person selling the software would be in trouble if they put the physical media up for sale without deleting all local copies.


Vernor v. Autodesk essentially removed the right of first sale for shrink wrap licensed copywritten works.


Adobe licenses are transferable. Here is their support page for people who want to transfer software licenses from one person to another:

https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/transfer-...


It might have been an unopened box... I did something similar with an old copy of Adobe Premiere that I got on clearance for a couple of bucks, then upgraded.




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