exhaustion doctrine

The exhaustion doctrine is a legal principle that allows the resale of software licenses after their first sale, limiting the copyright holder's control over further distribution. On WindowsForum.com, discussions focus on a UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling that Microsoft cannot use contract terms or copyright to prevent resale of perpetual Windows and Office licenses. This decision reinforces the European exhaustion doctrine for software, marking a significant win for reseller ValueLicensing. The tag covers legal battles between Microsoft and resellers, the applicability of exhaustion to perpetual licenses, and implications for enterprise software licensing and secondary markets.