And you thought modern EULAs were crazy

by Grant Robertson on June 18, 2007 at 05:30 PM


Click-wrap, EULA, whatever. Call it what you will but the fact remains; The EULA is a legal document intended to aid you in giving up your rights. You might think -- as we did -- that the EULA is a late 20th century manifestation but, here's a news flash... it's not.

Record collector Damon Burke shows this example of an early 20th century EULA, printed on the label of a 78 RPM record. The surprisingly modern sounding bit of legalease on the back demands that, unless you paid more than $1 for the record in your hand -- the equivalent of $21.65 in today's currency -- you have no license to listen.

Obviously this early 20th century relic and its outdated contract are (mostly) harmless these days but, will we find the same level of irony and comedic value in today's EULA agreements 100 years in the future?

Tags: EULA, license agreements, LicenseAgreements