This is a huge overreach by Bethesda. They obviously have no legal ground and are bullying consumers. Hopefully public outcry will slap them down.
https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/11/17661254/bethesda-sell-used-games-amazon-block
That’s absurd, if only because paying a law firm to do so against people selling a single game here or there is a waste of money.
What the shit Bethesda? Do you want people to hate you?
This isn’t about actually suing people. It’s about applying overwhelming pressure by threatening to sue.
Not to say they wouldn’t actually sue, of course they would, to make an example and scare off everybody else.
This is the same tactic the RIAA and MPAA used for decades. They only sued a handful of people, but they truly screwed those people over. Everybody else they sent a letter and got them to pay three thousand dollars. Difference is that piracy is actually illegal while reselling games is explicitly protected by the first sale doctrine.
I expect Bethesda will fold, but if they don’t I hope people organize a boycott on F76.
Until they got to the bit about contacting the law firm, I was assuming the single dude that contacted them was just making shit up because it’s such an absurd idea.
Oh I know. I’d love to see someone demand they show warranty records in open court.
Polygon doesn’t reprint the letter, which is too bad. Their article makes it sound like the selling as “new” is just a paranthetical issue, but my guess is that was the main issue since, as they say, there are hundreds of used copies up on ebay and amazon.
It is new by any reasonable definition. It’s still in the shrinkwrap.
While I generally enjoy their products, I hope Bethesda Zenimax makes a game called Edge: 3000 AD and their legal department reaps the whirlwind they deserve.
This isn’t Bethesda, it’s Zenimax. They’ve been assholes forever, and they aren’t stopping anytime soon.
Ahhh, got it. In that case, I’ll amend my wish :)
Says you.
My guess is it’s more complicated than that. There may well be all kinds of legal and contractual issue that we laypeople aren’t aware of.
Who gives a shit? Reasonable definitions matter.
He should make that argument in front of a judge, then.
Yes, I hope this does go to court. I don’t think it will, though.
He would probably lose. Under any definition selling an open game as “new” is pretty shady.
Bethesda also took issue with Hupp’s use of the word “new” in selling the unwrapped game, claiming that this constituted “false advertising.”
“He bought the game but never unwrapped it, he told us.”
And yet further up it was claimed that the game was never unwrapped. So seems more like a contradiction that wasn’t caught by the editors, so clarification needed.
Bethesda’s letter claims that Hupp’s sale is not protected by the First Sale Doctrine, because he is not selling the game in its original form, which would include a warranty. The letter says this lack of warranty renders the game “materially different from genuine products” that are sold through official channels.
Warranty? WTF?
Bethesda provides you a warranty of 90 days from the date of the purchase of your game. If any defect in the game arises, it will, according to its discretion, do one of the following three things :
a) Correct the defect
b) Provide you a similar product of equal value
c) Refund your money if you give proof of the defect and your purchase of the defected product.
That was my immediate take as well. Seller represents the game as “new.” Bethesda says a “new” copy would include their warranty, which this doesn’t, so they have grounds to take it down.