What is the legality of gifting software titles/licenses I'm no longer using?

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I have a couple different software titles/licenses that I purchased, but am no longer using. I would like to offer said items up as gifts in an online community. I have paid for, used, and then un-installed and am no longer using the titles/licenses. What is the legality of this process of gifting titles/licenses if no money is exchanged.

Attorney Answers

2
Andra Marie VaccaroIntellectual Property Law AttorneyLos Angeles, CA ·
Many licenses are not transferable pursuant to the license agreement that came with the software, so it does not matter if they are gifted or sold. Thus, what you can do is only legal if the licenses permit you to transfer them.
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Eric Kelly ·
Each license would need to be examined to see if what your propose would be a breach. Statutory First Sale Doctrine might protect against copyright infringement if any of the software may have registered copyrights and federal common law exhaustion of rights (similar to first sale doctrine) might protect against patent infringement if any of the software may be have enforceable patents.
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