Valve victorious in German court after Steam re-selling lawsuit

Valve emerged from the Regional Court of Berlin victorious yesterday, following a verdict on claims that Steam users should be allowed to freely re-sell their purchases, just as they can with physical boxed games.

We reported on this one last year. It saw German consumer group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV) filing a complaint against Valve over Steam's end-user license agreement. The group claimed that Valve disallowing customers from re-selling their games was unlawful.

Following yesterday's verdict, law firm Osborne Clarke issued a statement that read, "The Regional Court of Berlin has dismissed the lawsuit of German consumer watchdog group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband ("VZBV") against Valve Inc. over the provisions in company's terms of service that prohibit the sale or transfer of user accounts on the Steam digital distribution platform.

"The reasons for the decision have not yet been published, and VZBV may still have the right to appeal the judgment. Even so, the ruling touches on hot issues of European copyright law and may have ramifications for the games industry and the used games market across all EU jurisdictions."

This is the second time that the VZBV has failed to bring Valve to task over this matter.

What's your view?

Via Eurogamer.