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Valve Being Taken to Court to Allow Resale of Digital Games

Valve Being Taken to Court to Allow Resale of Digital Games

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 22 December 2015 14:29 IST

A French consumer rights group - known as UFC Que Choisir - has filed a lawsuit against video gaming giant Valve, stating a few of the company's policies are breaching the legal rights of Europeans.

This is mainly in regards to the right to resell digitally purchased games. Valve doesn't currently provide a way for users to do this, and the consumer group claims an agreement such as this one between the corporation and its account holders violates the 2012 decision that was handed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that year.

"The European Court has explicitly stated that it's possible to resell software which, let's remember, is an integral part of a video game," it added. While the 2012 court ruling may have favoured consumers over the company in question then - Oracle - there is reverse precedent when it comes to rulings over reselling of digital video game content.

In 2014, the Regional Court of Berlin dismissed the complaint of a German consumer watchdog against Valve for the second time in as many attempts. The group was fighting the same battle - Valve not allowing the resale of digital content - and it lost.

Moreover, in a separate case involving video games, the CJEU stated that video games are "not only computer software" and should be considered under general copyright law.

That isn't the only complaint from the French consumer group though. Targeting Valve's inherent right to user-generated content, it says the company should "respect the users' rights of intellectual property". The group also mentions that money left in Steam Wallets - a virtual Steam bank account via which users can spend on games - should be refunded when someone decides to close their Valve account.

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