Used laptop... who owns the software?
 

I'm looking at a used laptop from Craigslist. Sounds like a nice machine, but the seller said he'd be keeping the MS Office CD and license so he could install it on his next laptop. If he doesn't uninstall the original, then installs a second copy on a different laptop then which copy is legit?

If Office was pre-installed on the laptop from the manufacturer, then the key on the laptop is a volume license key and as long as Office does not need to be reinstalled, things will be fine. The key on the actual CD case is a real key, different from the key installed on the laptop.

They will both work, but only one copy technically the newest install would be legit.

Whoever physically has the original paper that has the key on it.

One more thing... If the previous owner has formatted the laptop before and installed Office from the CD, using that key, he could keep the cd, but it may not install for him on his new pc.

Original owner is going to have a problem with activation, he's already activated Office on that laptop, it won't let him do it again on his new machine. That's unless is a corporate volume license and then he may get both of you in trouble.

Norton Ghost also does a full back-up of a hard-drive and CD-rom as I understand, so you can backup the full O/S and all software.

This is true...

Geek answer: the software is owned by the developer; the purchaser of the software merely has a license to use the software, as a licensee, subject to a software license grant by the licensor.