this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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What copyright law did valve violate?
I can only assume that you think that copyright law are laws granting rights to copy holders, rather than laws granting the rights to the creator to control who can make copies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Act_of_1909
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine
That a new law was created to say "if it's on a computer you don't have rights" doesn't mean the public should meekly accept being screwed over. It's the same as the current anti repair laws.
What law?
The law you linked is 100 years old, and was superseded 50 years ago. The doctrine you linked explains exactly how it does not apply well to digital works, because you're making a copy (which first sale doctrine does not allow you to do) when you sell it, and also because you weren't sold the work in the first place, you were licensed it's use, and you can't sell or transfer licenses under first sale doctrine.
I agree this is counter to the spirit of the first sale doctrine, but that means laws need to be updated, not that a new law was created to deny you rights.
Laws don't expire unless specifically written to expire. Do you not believe in the right to free speech because that law is 250 years old?
Nor was it superceded 50 years ago. The case was in 2012 and wasn't ruled until 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Records,_LLC_v._ReDigi_Inc.
You aren't necessarily making a copy. You are transferring a license to use. Steam restricts duplicate license usage.
The law was about digital copies of music without DRM. Given that Steam restricts duplicate licenses, that court ruling doesn't necessarily apply. And a court ruling isn't a law. That's why I claim Steam is breaking the law. But they get away with it because they have the billions to sue anyone who fights for the legal rights. So no one has tried.
Literally in the first paragraph of the link you sent me about the 100 year old law, it said that it was repealed and superseded in the 70s. I don't think you're even reading the sources you send me. Are you just generating responses with ai?
Again, what law is being broken by steam?
First sale doctrine does not apply to licenses, it applies to products, and furthermore you cannot transfer a digital product without copying it.
We can't just say that they're breaking the law as were wish it existed rather than how it actually is, but I agree with your goal, that software should be resellable.
It absolutely did not say that.
17 U.S.C. § 109(a) from 1976 clarified the earlier laws without changing them at all. It even specifically mentions video games. That is if you buy a video game you have the right to resell it (dispose).
Courts have since ruled that the law and 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) don't apply because you bought a "license".
But that doesn't change the law or 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) which was even clearer that someone who purchases music or a video game has the right to resell it.
Court rulings aren't law.