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The new law wants consumers to be aware that digital goods they buy are often licensed rather than owned by them.
A new California law requires digital sellers to make it very clear to consumers when they are just licensing a product, not purchasing it forever.
When law AB 2426 comes into effect next year, sellers will no longer be able to use terms such as ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ for digital products, including video games, movies, music and ebooks, unless the customers get unrestricted access to the product.
As it is, consumers who are sold a digital good often lose access to their ‘purchased’ product, often without prior warning from sellers. In April, Ubisoft removed access to video game The Crew even though players had paid for it.
The new law means that digital sellers must now tell customers they are getting a licence to use the digital media rather than owning it. The sellers will also need to make it clear that consumers will lose access to the good if the seller loses the rights to the product.
Popular video game distribution platform Steam writes in its agreement that: “The Program is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Program.” However, on its online storefront, the platform uses terminology such as ‘purchase’ and ‘buy’.
The law does not include subscription-based services or services that offer digital goods for rent or any service that allows consumers to store an offline copy of the product to which they would always have access.
While this law won’t protect consumers against losing their digital purchases, it makes it clearer to that they don’t own the item in perpetuity.
“As retailers continue to pivot away from selling physical media, the need for consumer protections on the purchase of digital media has become increasingly more important,” said California assembly member Jacqui Irwin who authored the bill.
“I thank the Governor for signing AB 2426, ensuring the false and deceptive advertising from sellers of digital media incorrectly telling consumers they own their purchases becomes a thing of the past.”
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