Polygon first broke the story and as Hupp explains it, Bethesda’s Legal team claims that his sale was “unlawful. They said that the reason for this claim was because he is not legally allowed to resell new copies of games (such as Gamestop) and also did not include the original warranty for the game. Hupp told Polygon that he bought the PS4 version because he originally wanted to get a PS4 but then spent his funds upgrading his personal gaming PC instead.
Hupp also told Bethesda in response to their legal letter his sale is protected under the First Sale Doctrine . This allows individuals to resell things such as copyrighted books, video games, and DVDs.
The following is a brief quote from the letter:
Polygon contacted Bethesda and received the following response:
The seller did comply with their request but it seems he wasn’t the only one Bethesda was targeting. This story also proves to be a warning that you have to be careful with how you list your pre-owned games.
We do not allow non-authorized resellers to represent what they sell as “new” because we can’t verify that the game hasn’t been opened and repackaged. This is how we help protect buyers from fraud and ensure our customers always receive authentic new product, with all enclosed materials and warranty intact.
In this case, if the game had been listed as “Pre-Owned,” this would not have been an issue.
