The Court of Appeal has dismissed Microsoft’s appeals in its dispute with ValueLicensing, providing guidance on copyright exhaustion in the context of the resale of software licences, and the Competition Appeal Tribunal's jurisdiction to determine copyright issues arising in competition law claims.
Microsoft finds software resale can be exhausting
"Although the decision does not determine whether Microsoft infringed competition law, it addresses important questions at the centre of copyright and software licensing law. The claim is commercially significant because its outcome could affect how major software providers manage legacy perpetual licences and how large organisations approach the value and transferability of those licences within their IT estates. The judgment also provides useful guidance on the powers of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) to determine copyright (or other) issues forming part of an infringement of competition law claim."
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