The German computer maker PearC has become quite popular lately, as it sells custom-made desktops that come with Apple’s Mac OS X operating system. It may not sound like much, but Apple states in the Mac OS X EULA that it is forbidden to install the software on any non-Apple computer.

However, the PC maker suggested that the German law regarding end-user license agreements makes installing OS X on other PCs legal. Apple is expected to initiate a court case on this matter but, until now, the company has not made any comments regarding this issue.

According to PearC, the German law states that no EULA is applicable if the user is not able to see the agreement prior to the purchase. The manufacturer claims that the Apple EULA is not valid, as long as the document’s text is in the box, so it is not available for the user to read it. Therefore, the terms cannot be enforced and hence, using the Mac OS X on computers other than Apple’s own is legal, at least in Germany.

Several PC models bundled with Mac OS X had been available even before PearC initiated this debate. For instance, the PC manufacturer Psystar has been selling OS X based PCs since last year but it has been struggling to get over Apple’s EULA ever since.

It remains to be seen whether these computer makers will manage to prove that they have the right to use Apple’s software on their machines. Still, these controversial situations made many people think about whether the harsh terms of use that come from Cupertino are stretching beyond the idea of copyright and intellectual property.