Post #4588600 · Elektrine

2026-08-23 17:06 UTC

Old school was “shrinkwrap eula”. When you took the literal shrinkwrap off the box, you agreed. Then it switched to “use eula” and the box that pops up containing the EULA that says “click to accept” and there’s no other option but to accept… That’s the point you agree. I don’t think it’s ever been “at purchase” at least in America. Because obviously gifts are a thing and purchasers aren’t always users and more importantly users aren’t all purchasers A cracked game might circumvent those popups and/or screens, but I honestly don’t know why they would put the effort in or if it would matter. And if it mattered probably varies a lot by country.

Replies (1)

@VonReposti@feddit.dk 2026-08-23 17:58

EU is very adamant that you can only present contractual terms before entering an agreement (purchase) not after. All those EULAs showing up in the game before you are shown the main menu are void in EU. If the EULA is instead embedded in the purchase flow with an “I agree” checkbox then the UsedSoft vs. Oracle case is likely still precedence to argue that you own the copy. Reason is that the purchase flow uses the “Buy” terminology and nowhere outside of the EULA it mentions rental/lease/limited/etc. This would breach the “reasonable consumer expectations” as the storefront didn’t make it clear in their purchase experience that it was only a limited license you obtained and that a normal consumer doesn’t expect “limited” when reading “Buy”. This part has though not been tested in court yet but most legal scholars agree that this would be the likely outcome should someone bring it up.

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