PSN Downloads may become transferable in the near future after a European Court ruling. The European Court today confirmed that end-users are legally allowed to sell on second hand digitally downloaded video games. This could mean that Sony will make PSN titles transferable to comply with the ruling.
The court has decided that an author of a piece of software can no longer oppose the resale of the license once used. It basically means that it’s against the law for a company to stop you selling on digitally distributed software.
“The exclusive right of distribution of a copy of a computer program covered by such a licence is exhausted on its first sale, even if the licence agreement prohibits a further transfer, the rightholder can no longer oppose the resale of that copy.”
Sony will most likely create a transfer mechanism, which will allow gamers to change the owners of their game so that it can work on their console. However, the service doesn’t have to be free, and Sony could charge for transferring ownership of a game to another user.