Posted at February 7, 2004, 1:31 am:
Here's a real good one. We had over 200 auctions close today, all similar items, of which another seller posts over 3000 per week. The auctions were for old ads from certain vintage magazines featuring musical celebrities and/or groups. Below is a copy of the email we received from eBay.....
Got the email (see above) after noticing one (out of the 200+) of the auctions had unexpectantly disappeared from our current listings. Come to find out, it was cancelled by eBay for an Intellectual Property Rights violation, and we received a warning that our account could, (no ..... would likely be) suspended if we listed any similar items in the future. A contact link for challenging the decision was given for the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights, which turns out to be ABC Radio Networks.
I plan on contacting these folks, for starters....but wanted to get some input from fellow Auctionbyters first. At any given time on eBay there are over 2500 items that turn up in a search for similar items using one search phrase. If the search phrase is tweaked, over 5,000 similar items can be present on eBay on any given day.
If the case can be made that ABC Radio Networks can force an auction to be pulled for an old magazine ad featuring a given artist, band, group, etc., what's next? Does that mean Time/Life can ban the selling of old Life Magazines? Milton Bradly can ban the selling of old board games? Can the Elvis Presley estate force us to quit selling Elvis memorabilia on eBay? This is an item I own, not ABC Radio Networks. Last I knew, you could sell anything you legally own. Am I missing something here???
I can see them banning the sale of bootleg records and cd's, or any item claiming to be something it is not but when you clearly advertise an item as an old magazine ad from a vintage music magazine, what the heck is up with that? Not only that, there are dozens of websites dedicated to selling nothing but old advertisements from vintage magazines. Does that mean they are all at risk of being sued??? And there are various print publications that post classified ads for old magazines and ads, not to mention all sorts of other music and movie memorabilia. This really opens up a can of worms that we should all be aware of.
Does anyone have any legal input or experience with anything like this? Is this just an isolated case of someone with nothing better to do than search the web auctions for a certain name and report anyone selling anything related to it? Funny thing is, this certain ad was for a 1978 album by Bob Kingsley. I've never even heard of the guy before. What makes selling an ad for him worse than selling an ad for KISS, or the Rolling Stones, or The Beatles....or maybe they just haven't got around to them on the list of Intellectual Property Rights violations yet???
Just do a search on eBay for the word 'ad' and see how many there are on a daily basis. If this stands up, there are a lot of people out there violating this so-called law every day.
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Original of the message was taken from http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/
Replies:that is really stupid considering that ebay affiliates are infringing ...
What really gets me is the phrase .
HI Kjp55,
Boy , I can really understand where you are coming fr...
A similar thing happened to a seller of an item I had intended to bid ...
If these ads are the original prints ads and not copies, then you have...
In this case, the ad was from a 1978 Billboard Magazine.
I've moved this thread into the VERO Rights forum at the request of th...
Below is a copy of the email letter I just sent to ABC Radio Networks,...
CBS or any other VERO member is under no obligation to answer your qu...
Well, it can't hurt to try and see if I get a response, just for the s...
We received the same VERO email this weekend for a product that we jus...
Don't call the VeRO member, email, you want a paper trail.
-+Does anybody have a link to a listing of these 2000+ VeRO members? Tha...
Received the following pleasant reply today (not bad, eh?) from the Ve...
"I just read the eBay Counter-Notice statement ( http://www.
-+Actually, I believe - correct me if I'm wrong - that Federal Law presc...
First, the form is written to completely protect eBay and admonishes t...
Yes, the VeRO member can take you to court if you file a counter notic...
-+That's exactly my point, as well.
I guess the question arises about the secondary market.
I'm not sure about the statement that Fair Use is a vague area.
The whole subject just feels too Orwellian to me (hope I spelled that ...
It's called a federal lawsuit.
"Finally, why is it up to me to prove that I am not violating any Inte...
I agree with your points, Popper, and don't dispute the purpose of the...
kj.
That's my point, Susie.
To the poster who said they wished 'him' luck.
"How does a seller protect himself/herself against a statement like th...
Tabber-- An issue you might raise on one of your suits is the way eBay...
I think electronic signatures are fine.
Electronic signatures are still a gray area for the courts in many res...
-+what about signatures done with a wacom tablet or some such device whe...
The DMCA specifically recognizes electronic signatures and since that ...
"The DMCA specifically recognizes electronic signatures and since that...
"what about signatures done with a wacom tablet or some such device wh...
Well, it can't hurt to try and see if I get a response, just for the s...
I was on Ebay as Little_Gorgeous_Things and was warned one time for a ...
(800) 322-9266 or (408) 369-4830 email address for questions of an u...
Try DWilson@kmwlaw.
Ebay = Corporate Losers
Like people have said & walked away from ...
I have moved over to Ruby Lane and have made three sales in less then ...
This isn't a complete list, but I believe it's the most complete you c...
Try Bid-City We are all about the little guy as well as the big guy bu...
Thanks for the tip!
I've been looking for additional avenues and ...
hi, I have been selling on eBay for over 5 years, am a powerseller and...
I'd follow up on this matter.
This has happened to me in the listing of vintage jewelry.
I haven't followed this thread much since I started it way back when.
Kjp,
The problems you mentioned are not VeRO issues.
I hate to say it but if you are using a picture from a magazine withou...
Blade,
I'm not sure if I'm remembering the thread properly, not h...
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