I agree that they should have let it be known that from the start. Thats withholding info that would make a big difference. But I can see their point about reselling the cds. Anyone can buy the disc, put it on their hard drive or copy it, make a copy of the book or booklet, and sell it again. If that person has integrity and removes the files from thier computer, etc. then its no problem. They are trying to protect their product and sales, albeit in a wrong fashion, but I understand their point. Piracy is rampant.
As a former authorized reseller for Aurora Graphics software, I can offer some insight into this which may have an effect on your position.
Aurora Graphics products such as Print Craft Suite, Monster Wrap Fills, Print Craft, Print Craft 2, Millennium Gold, Platinum, Sign Blanks, Raven, 3D Metal Machine and others do not include any printed documentation which display the contents of the collection or provide instructions for use. Until recently, none of these collections included a PDF user guide ... although my understanding is that PDFs are now available. The EULA was contained in a read me file on each CD or DVD ... which has now been replaced by a printed EULA on the outside of the packaging.
So for a number of years, Aurora's software was sold with no mention of the license restrictions unless you actually opened the packaging and inserted the CD into your drive and opened the read me file containing the license. In addition, Aurora took no steps to create a file naming scheme which would require a user guide to efficiently use their data. They just lumped their files onto a CD/DVD with no effort to display, instruct or protect.
By comparison, when you license any Plotter Art™, OCA, Smart Designs or Vector Art collection, you receive the data on a media disk(s) along with a printed user guide and gallery. The media disk(s) are in sealed containers or envelopes and the licensee is directed by labels to the fact that the data is covered by a license and that breaking the seal on the media is legal acceptance of the license. The user guide contains the EULA and other terms such as warranties and clearly states to the licensee that if they do not agree to the license to return the product to their selling dealer for a full refund.
What is important here is that the licensee is given the opportunity to read the license, warranty and other terms and conditions as well as preview the contents of the media disk(s) without having to break any seal or access the data on the media disk(s).
The files on the media disk(s) follow a naming strategy which is tied to the user guide display of the images. On their own they are just letters and numbers which provide no clue to what the file is unless you first look it up in the user guide. While far from perfect, this approach helps considerably in preventing or reducing illegal duplication and redistribution of the data.
Aurora Graphics decided early on that they did not want to provide a user guide or follow any of the above described approaches to protect their products. That may have been a measure to save on the cost of production or it may have been for more insidious reasons. That choice and the lack of a fair presentation of their license has left them wide open to misunderstandings on the part of licensees, widespread instances of keep a copy and sell the originals activity and outright piracy.
Now Aurora Graphics seeks to invoke the DMCA and force any third party such as Signs 101 to enforce their obscure EULA for them and prevent their customers from exercising what they believed to be their right ... to transfer their rights to a new licensee.
Signs 101 has a zero tolerance policy against software piracy and other issues of copyright infringement. We recently banned a merchant member for selling duplicated copies of Aurora Graphics products and refunded his subscription fee. We had no reluctance to do that because it is clearly the right thing to do.
Serving as a policeman, however, to protect the rights of a publisher who has not taken appropriate steps to protect himself or be upfront and fair with his customers is a whole other matter. The restriction on transfer in their EULA punishes the many honest buyers of their products while doing little to prevent piracy.
) that policy would potentially hurt their sales.
