Knocking on the WTO's Door : International Law and the Principle of First Sale Download in UsedSoft v. Oracle

In the July 2012 decision of UsedSoft v. Oracle, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) held that “the right of distribution of a copy of a computer program is exhausted if the copyright holder... has authorized” its downloading free or for compensation. This decision gives consumers purchasing and downloading software in Europe the right to resell that software as “second-hand” without seeking the authorization of the copyright holder. The ruling has enormous implications for international intellectual property law and the principle of exhaustion (or first sale rule). The case is also important from an international law perspective as it comes on the heels of efforts in the United States and the EU to pass legislation — the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (“ACTA”) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”) — meant to protect the business model of online content providers