this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2025
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Not true. With older physical games which fit on the CDs/DVDs you by law owned your copy and had full ownership over it to do whatever you wanted.
That's the difference between license and owning.
No, when you own a game, you can make copies and sell them. That is because owning the game means you own the copyright to the game.
If you are not the owner of the IP (which you aren’t, unless you own the company that made the game), then the only way to legally play the game is for the actual owner to provide you with some kind of license. If you don’t have a license then the default copyright rules apply which means you aren’t legally allowed to have or play a copy.
Your license is also limited and doesn’t allow you to ‘do whatever you want’. Try selling copies and see how quickly you get sued. You can’t even do what you want with your single copy. Go buy a bunch of physical games and start a game rental business. Or buy a bunch of physical games and open a game cafe where people can play ‘your’ games. Your license doesn’t allow you to do that.
The second-hand videogame market will always exist, even if the license when you bought the game doesn't give you explicit permission to sell your copy. This probably isn't going to change any time soon either
With physical games the disc or cartridge acts as your license key, which they allow you to sell to another person. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t have sold you a non-transferable license, it only means they chose not to. Probably because it wouldn’t be cost-effective to do so.
Also, just because you can do something doesn’t make it legal.
With books and older non-unique registration code games it is explicitly legal to sell them second, third, etc hand.
At least in the EU and UK where those overly restrictive licenses you bring up have been declared ineffective. Maybe in the US it's just another personal freedom sacrificed for freedom of capital.
Sure, sell. But there are still limitations. You aren’t allow to rent it out or sell copies, for example.
Just because the license is a bit more permissive doesn’t make you the owner, it’s still licensed software, not owned software.
The only thing you own is the 2 cents worth of plastic the disc is made off. The actual content on the disc is licensed.