Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is Microsoft ‘Volume’ licensing?
Volume licensing programs are tailored to the size and purchasing preference of your company. These programs include Open, Select and Enterprise. Each provides a more flexible solution compared to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or Fully Packaged Product (FPP) licensing. The Open licence program is designed for companies that have as few as five desktop PCs. The Select and Enterprise licence programs are designed for corporate, government, and academic organisations that have 250 or more desktop PCs.
2. How do I purchase pre-owned Microsoft licence agreements from Discount-Licensing.com?
Once a suitable licence agreement(s) has been identified and we have received your purchase order, Discount- Licensing.com will then re-confirm the availability of the licences with the owner (if the licences have not already been purchased by Discount-Licensing.com). We will send you the appropriate documentation in order to transfer ownership as well as Microsoft’s own documentation, which you are requested to sign in order to transfer the Licence Agreement and Product Use Rights to your company. We inform Microsoft as soon as we receive the signed Microsoft transfer documentation from your company. Your business becomes the legal owner of the licences upon receipt of our invoice, which contains the licence agreement details, media and Volume Licence Keys.
3. What are the legalities of transferring pre-owned software licences?
Discount-Licensing.com transfers the ownership of the licences to your company by supplying the relevant licence details contained within the invoice (delivery of product). We also adhere to Microsoft’s volume licensing Terms & Conditions in order to transfer the Licence Agreement (LA) and Product Use Rights (PUR’s) to your company. Under specific conditions, it is legal to transfer the ownership as well as the LA/PUR’s from either an insolvent or solvent company to another solvent business as long as the transfer adheres to the terms & conditions of the local corporate laws and respective manufacturer.
Note that a software ‘licence’ is a separate asset to the ‘software’ itself. The software is generally an asset that is owned by the licensor (in this case, Microsoft). The licensee (the end customer) is granted permission (known as the “software licence”) to use the software on a machine. Discount- Licensing.com simply transfers the ‘rights of ownership’ of a disused ‘permit/licence’ to a new customer and then using Microsoft’s own ‘Notice of Perpetual Transfer’ form, we advise Microsoft of the new customer’s agreement to transfer of the LA/PUR’s – this is your responsibility to sign and this does not affect the transfer of ownership.
4. Microsoft has changed its transfer terms and conditions. Does this mean companies cannot now purchase pre-owned Open licences?
No. The changes made to the volume licence agreement and Notice of transfer forms since October 2007 cannot legally prevent the transfer of ownership and have only restricted the transfer of the Licence Agreement / Product Use Rights (LA / PUR) under certain conditions. In any case, subsequent changes cannot ever be backdated and so will not be able to affect licences purchased prior to the original purchase date. Furthermore, new processes have been developed by Discount-Licensing.com in order to ensure the supply of pre-owned Microsoft volume licences will continue indefinitely. The pre-owned Microsoft licence market is here to stay and will continue to offer businesses legitimate savings for many years to come.
The Exhaustion Rule: The "Exhaustion Rule” is a limitation on 'copyright’ that was first recognised by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1908 and subsequently codified in ‘Copyright Acts’ throughout the world. ‘Copyright’ is the right to copy a work of some form. If one resells or gives as a gift a software licence or CD or DVD etc that one has lawfully purchased, a new copy has not been made and therefore, it is legal to resell under the respective county’s copyright law. The “Exhaustion Rule” allows the purchaser to transfer, sell or give away a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission from the manufacturer once it has been obtained / purchased. This means that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a product ends once that copy is sold, as long as no additional unlawful copies are made / sold. Note that the "Exhaustion Rule” is otherwise known as “first sale rule" or "first-sale doctrine”.
5. How can I be certain that the licences that I am purchasing are genuine and that the transfer is 100% legal in the eyes of the software manufacturer?
You may need more than a reseller’s own invoice, purchase certificate or even a Notary’s attestation, which simply shows evidence that a legally empowered witness has certified the validity of ownership. Such documents prove that your business has purchased the rights of ownership to the licences, but it is very important you agree to transfer of the Licence Agreement (LA) and Product Use Rights (PUR’s) if required by the relevant software manufacturer – this is your responsibility to sign and this does not affect the transfer of ownership. As long as you return the LA / PUR’s transfer forms, all transfer forms are sent to Microsoft and processed. Microsoft retains sole authority in processing the transfers, which gives the end customer 100% certainty that the transfer has been processed. For proof of ownership and transfer of the LA / PUR’s, Microsoft requires the “Select agreement, applicable enrolment, customer’s order confirmation, proof of complete payment, along with the Notice of transfer form”.
6. I have discovered that my business is not Microsoft licence compliant. Can I purchase pre-owned licensing to rectify the problem?
Yes. Companies may legally purchase pre-owned licensing either for new software installations or when a company realises that it is not licence compliant (before or after a Software Asset Management ‘SAM’ audit). A company has the legal right to purchase either ‘pre-owned’ and/or ‘new’ licensing in order to correct its non-licence compliant position ongoing.
7. Where are pre-owned Microsoft software licences sourced from?
Discount-Licensing.com sources surplus or disused Microsoft ‘volume’ licence agreements from worldwide insolvencies and solvent organisations - this includes 'Open', 'Select' and 'Enterprise' licensing - we do not currently supply 'FPP' or 'OEM' product. We work closely with the owners of the licence agreement(s) as well as the software manufacturer. These close relationships enable Discount-Licensing.com to investigate the make up of the licence agreements and confirm whether they are legally transferable.
8. My business is not based within the UK. Can I purchase a pre-owned licence agreement from Discount-Licensing.com and then use the licences outside the UK?
Yes. Your business can legally use the pre-owned licence agreements for use in your required country / region. Note that Microsoft still provides the final failsafe as Microsoft is informed of every pre-owned software licence transfer / reassignment using its own ‘Notice of Perpetual Transfer’ form.
9. If I purchase pre-owned licences from Discount-Licensing.com, does my business have the right to use the software in my local language?
Yes. As long as Microsoft’s cross-language terms and conditions are adhered to, your business may use the software in its local language. When submitting your enquiry, please confirm the language you require and Discount- Licensing.com will clarify your language rights.
10. I only want some of the licences contained within a specific agreement that I have seen on your website - can I split that pre-owned licence agreement apart?
Yes and No. Some of the agreements displayed on this website are Open Licence Agreements and cannot be broken apart in the same way that Select or Enterprise Licence Agreements can be. This is not indicated within the bundles and so please submit an enquiry so that we can check our database and send you a quote / information on availability within 48 hours.
11. Can I purchase a pre-owned Open agreement if I already have a Select or Enterprise licence agreement?
Yes. You may own an Open, Select and Enterprise licence agreement without affecting your user rights.
12. I am thinking of purchasing a previous version product such as Office 2000 or XP. How much longer does Microsoft support these products?
Microsoft has extended its support dates for most products. You can view the extended support dates within the following link: Microsoft Product Support Dates.
13. Do you supply licences from other software manufacturers?
Yes. Whilst Discount-Licensing.com concentrates on supplying Microsoft volume licensing, we now supply pre-owned licensing from other software manufacturers such as SAP. As we do not currently display non-Microsoft products on our website, simply submit your enquiry and we will confirm availability.
14. I cannot see an agreement that matches my licence requirements. What can I do?
The licence agreements on this website represent only a small selection of the 100’s of licences available for supply. Note that you can also combine licence agreements to meet your requirements and in some cases, split the agreements down; however, we recommend you spend a few minutes submitting your licence enquiry. We will check our database and then send you a quotation / information on availability within 48 hours. Note that Discount-Licensing.com is a registered partner and authorised reseller. If there is ever a shortfall in the supply of pre-owned licensing, Discount-Licensing.com will provide ‘new’ licences sourced from a Microsoft distributor at the current reseller prices (prices to be confirmed at time of quotation).
