Software as Goods in CISG

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor/Allameh Tabataba'i University/Tehran/Iran

2 MA. in Private Law/Shahid Beheshti University/Tehran/Iran

Abstract

Software sales contracts are controversial among commentators of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods (CISG), as to whether they fall within the scope of the provisions of this convention. In this regard, some commentators have refused to include such contracts in the Convention, due to the language of the majority of the delegates present at the conference was English and the concept in their minds was "goods". Others, on the other hand, contemplate a broader scope for the convention. Both groups are looking for the uniformity of the Convention, fully aware of the consequences of not having unified rules in international trade. The main question is whether custom and standard software are goods? And can software in Iranian law be considered as an example of goods? In this paper, the above questions have been answered by an independent interpretive method and using the articles of the Convention. Finally, it is concluded that custom-made and standard software are both equally considered as Goods under the CISG and also in Iranian Law.

Keywords

References

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