Reselling used eBooks - is it legal?

You can safely resell paper books, which is completely legal. With eBooks, however, the situation is somewhat different. We clarify this in this practical tip:

Resell eBooks - This is the legal situation

• If you buy a book in paper form, you automatically become its owner. As a legal owner, you can then do whatever you want with the book. This also includes resale. In this case, lawyers speak of an exhaustion principle.
• It is a little different with an eBook. You don't buy an eBook, you just acquire an unlimited right of use. The right of use in turn applies exclusively to you and therefore you may not sell the respective eBook. This is usually fixed in writing in the general terms and conditions of the respective eBook provider and by purchasing an eBook you automatically agree to it.
• After various lawsuits against this procedure had already failed, the Higher Regional Court in Hamm decided in May 2014 that eBook providers may expressly prohibit the resale of eBooks in their terms and conditions. To be read under "BGH AZ: I-ZR 120/14, OLG Hamm AZ: 22 U 60/13".
• In short: The resale of eBooks is not legal under the current legal situation. However, a decision of the European Court of Justice is still pending in this regard, which has been requested by a Dutch court.

Given this background, the question arises whether eBook flat rates are perhaps not an attractive alternative.