Reselling the digital: what if the physical medium were reborn as proof of licence?

The courts have refused the resale of dematerialised games because there is no longer any "medium" to hand over. Let us turn the problem around: what if we gave the digital game back a medium, not to store the game, but to materialise the licence and make it transferable?

The concept

The idea is simple: a physical object, a collectible card, a figurine, a nice box, carrying a unique code (a QR code, or a cryptographic token) that does not contain the game, but represents a licence right. This code serves as proof of purchase; whoever holds it can download and play the game. Transferring it means transferring the licence.

We then recover the qualities of the physical: an object one owns, gives as a gift, resells, collects, without the logistical costs of a disc, since the game itself remains downloaded.

Why it would also be good for publishers

• Control and traceability. Each licence is unique and its transfer history can be recorded reliably. No more "one key, a thousand resales": one licence = one holder at a time.
• Revenue on every resale. Unlike the physical second-hand market, where the publisher receives nothing, a transferable licence system can provide for a commission on each resale. The second-hand market becomes a source of revenue, not a loss.
• New products. The licence-as-object opens the way to collector's editions that have, on top of their sentimental value, real usage and resale value.

An honest note about "NFTs"

The most publicised technology for this kind of token, the NFT on blockchain, has been largely discredited by the speculation and substanceless projects of 2021-2022. The point here is not to revive that fad: the principle that matters is that of a unique and transferable proof of licence. A simple secure register kept by a trusted authority (or an interoperable standard between platforms) can do it just as well, without blockchain. The technique is not the issue; the law is.

This mechanism is in no way utopian: it requires only political will and a legal framework. That is precisely the purpose of our bill for a fair resale.