After publications Ars Technica on Steam accounts not being inherited after owner’s death, GOG game store reported a website that is ready to help users transfer their accounts in the event of their death, but spoke about the complex legal nuances.
«In general, your GOG Account and GOG Content are not transferable. However, if you can obtain a copy of a court order that specifically grants someone the right to your personal GOG account, the digital content attached to it, taking into account the license agreements for the specific games in it, and that specifically refers to your GOG username or at least the email address used to create such account, we will do our best to make this happen,» says GOG spokesperson Zuzanna Rybatska.
In the absence of a binding court order, there are several factors that GOG says make it difficult for them to transfer an account at the user’s request (or in accordance with the user’s last will and testament). At the heart of it is the fact that GOG accounts and content are subject to limited personal, non-transferable licenses — «This is the standard for digital services and goods», — Rybatska notes. In addition, each game distributed on GOG may be subject to a separate End User License Agreement, which may separately determine the scope of rights granted to the user of the game.
In addition, there is the issue of legally establishing even the fact that a particular account belongs to a particular person. «As you are probably aware, GOG does not collect information sufficient to truly identify a specific person, such as first and last name or marital status. For this reason, we cannot determine whether someone is related to a particular user or that a particular user has died,» Rybatska says.
Even an affidavit from the user’s estate administrator clearly stating their wishes will not be enough to provide full legal coverage.
«As this is a particularly complex and sensitive matter, we will need to provide a legal basis for the actions of the administrator that relates specifically to the GOG account and that will settle that the GOG account and possibly related content is part of such property».
GOG says it will be cautious in dealing with such situations, as it is a particularly sensitive issue with little to no legal guidance. Policies related to the transfer of digital property rights are «[not] comprehensively regulated by any specific laws, and because of this, we are bound by general law in this regard».
«We are ready to handle this situation and preserve your GOG library, but we can only do so through the justice system at this time».
However, GOG is aware of several existing court decisions that have allowed some individuals to inherit an online account. This involves a court order as a «possible option, with our willingness to address such situations in accordance with our mission to preserve games»,” the platform said in a statement.
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