The British tribunal says that reselling Microsoft licenses is not a problem

Microsoft’s attempt to claim that its software cannot be resold has hit a wall with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, which ruled that just because Office has clipart does not mean customers cannot resell their licenses.

The judgement follows British reseller ValueLicensing as it stays in 2021 claim against the Windows giant over clauses in contracts allegedly aimed at preventing customers from reselling perpetual licenses. The Derby-based reseller sued Microsoft for £270 million in damages over claims of lost sales.

The dispute rumbled back and forth until Microsoft made a surprising ruling hinge. Rather than denying wrongdoing, Microsoft argued that reselling perpetual licenses violated copyright. It also claimed that the practice of companies selling only part of their licenses was not allowed.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal considered the software giant’s claims and disagreed. According to the ruling, there was nothing to prevent the subdivision and resale of Windows and Office licenses obtained under Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreements, nor was there anything wrong with the resale of licenses.

If the verdict had gone in Microsoft’s favor, it could have had profound consequences. ValueLicensing argued that reselling perpetual licenses was perfectly legal and covered by a European ruling in the case UsedSoft casewhich showed that software licenses could be resold. Microsoft, on the other hand, stated that since Office contained resources such as icons, fonts, and Help files, it could be classified as a creative work and was therefore covered by the law. Copyright and Information Society Directive.

In a unanimous judgment, the Competition Appeal Tribunal sided with ValueLicensing and the like The registry has heard that Microsoft’s “Hail Mary” didn’t work.

Jonathan Horley, director of ValueLicensing, explained The registry: “ValueLicensing has always believed that it was running a legitimate business, backed by the principles of the European Software Directive and the Court of Justice’s UsedSoft judgment.

“This judgment affirms these principles, which legitimately allowed ValueLicensing to save its customers money on used Microsoft software. Now that these preliminary issues have been resolved, we look forward to pursuing the claim against Microsoft.”

This is what a Microsoft spokesperson said Reg: “We disagree with the decision and plan to appeal.”

Redmond faces a similar problem class action published by Alexander Wolfson which could result in a multi-billion pound payout for UK customers. A spokesperson said at the time: “This new class action is based on the same baseless claims regarding second-hand software licenses that have been pursued in another case for several years.”

We hesitate to call it a “precedent,” but Microsoft’s pivot and subsequent judgment haven’t helped matters.

There’s still plenty of road to go, but while waiting for the inevitable call, Microsoft may have just blown its own toes off. ®