Listings removed for copyright violations from a rights holder that has nothing to do with the items

[klickonline]

One more example of why Ebay is so frustrating and doesn't have any sort of decent resolution process in place.   

We received a notification of a few of our listings being removed for copyright violations for pictures and text.   Our listings are our own text, as well as the pictures.   The "rights owner" listed is some completely unrelated company.   Everyone I talk to at Ebay agrees that the "rights owner" listed doesn't appear in any way to be associated with our products.   Our listings are simple text listings that we write ourselves - nothing fancy.  

But yet - nothing can be done.   There is no way for a seller to request a review from Ebay for false claims.   We have to "write an email" to the email address that Ebay has for the supposed "rights owner" and get them to withdraw their false claim.   This makes absolutely zero sense.

There needs to be some system in place where a seller can legimately make a complain that a rights owner is false and not associated at all, in any way, with a listing and have it reviewed.   

[sg51]

Have you investigated the formal VERO challenge mechanism?

[klickonline]

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@sg51 wrote:

Have you investigated the formal VERO challenge mechanism?

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Hello,

Thanks for the response - I'm unaware of this and was not told about this from Ebay.  I did a quick google search but really didn't find anything.  I found the Ebay VERO page with a large list of rights owners but the one that had our listings removed isn't listed.    Can you provide some more information?  Thanks!

[sg51]

Start on this page.

http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing/create-effective-listings/vero-program.html

[sg51]

• How can I file a counter notice? (US only)

  Counter notices can only be submitted for US-based copyright reports, in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Find out what information you need to provide when filing a counter notice as outlined under 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(3). Once we receive a valid counter notice, we'll provide a copy of the notice to the VeRO participant and inform them that the listings will be reinstated after 10 business days if they don't inform us that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain you from relisting the items. If you wish to file a counter notice, you can contact us.

[sg51]

Any chance this might work?

What if I think the rights owner made a mistake in reporting my listing?

If your listing was reported and you believe your listing was removed in error, contact the rights owner directly. The email we sent you about the removal will include the rights owner's contact information. If the rights owner has made a mistake, they should email eBay to retract their report.

[luckythewinner]

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@klickonline wrote:

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@sg51 wrote:

Have you investigated the formal VERO challenge mechanism?

---

Hello,

Thanks for the response - I'm unaware of this and was not told about this from Ebay.  I did a quick google search but really didn't find anything.  I found the Ebay VERO page with a large list of rights owners but the one that had our listings removed isn't listed.    Can you provide some more information?  Thanks!

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It's called a counter-notice.

If you file a counter-notice, the rights holder has 10 days to initiate legal action against you or ebay is supposed to restore the removed content. 

However, keep in mind that eBay's user agreement also says that they can deny their service to you at any time for any reason, or no reason at all. 

However, I would be cautious about filing a counter-notice without getting some legal advice first. You are basically daring them to sue you.

[*eponymous*]

The "rights owner" listed is some completely unrelated company.

Infringement notices do not have to come directly from the rights' owners.  IP rights owners can - and do - assign duties to indepedendent firms to enforce their intellectual property rights.

Our listings are our own text, as well as the pictures. 

That means the entire listing, not only the description.......

Dell's site clearly states that all text, pictures, and trademarks (both registered and unregistered) may not be used for commercial purposes; and that everything on the site is protected.  Google the text below and click the first link in the results...where does the link take you?

Optimum performance for gaming, surfing and everything else.

Multi-tasking processing: With 6th Gen Intel i5 Quad-Core processors, you’ll have all the power you need to enjoy both gaming and entertainment.

Stream and re-stream videos: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M is your performance-class graphics card with 4GB GDDR5 discrete memory. This graphics powerhouse gives you high frame-per-second rates in games and accelerates video editing and transcoding.

Just because something is included in eBay's catalog does not mean the catalog is IP-rights compliant.

If there is a name and email addy to contact the representative of the rights holder - and the VeRO notice is for copyright infringement - you can file a counternotice.  If, however, the Vero notice is for trademark infringement, no such right to file a counternotice exists.

How can you sell NIB computers as new when you are not an authorized distributor and buyers may be affected by warranty issues, including the original date of (first) purchase which is the date that many electronics begin the warranty period?

[albertabrightalberta]

Your listings show copyrighted stock images for all your items. You can't do that because those stock images are the property of the companies who paid for the photographer to prepare them.

You need to do your own work, take your own pictures and write your own descriptions in your own words.

That's what good sellers do.

[albertabrightalberta]

BTW, in any VeRO takedown notice, there's information at the bottom of the email you received telling you the email (or possibly snail mail) address to respond, dispute or discuss the infringement.

[mistressmime]

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@klickonline wrote:

One more example of why Ebay is so frustrating and doesn't have any sort of decent resolution process in place.   

We received a notification of a few of our listings being removed for copyright violations for pictures and text.   Our listings are our own text, as well as the pictures.   The "rights owner" listed is some completely unrelated company.   Everyone I talk to at Ebay agrees that the "rights owner" listed doesn't appear in any way to be associated with our products.   Our listings are simple text listings that we write ourselves - nothing fancy.  

But yet - nothing can be done.   There is no way for a seller to request a review from Ebay for false claims.   We have to "write an email" to the email address that Ebay has for the supposed "rights owner" and get them to withdraw their false claim.   This makes absolutely zero sense.

There needs to be some system in place where a seller can legimately make a complain that a rights owner is false and not associated at all, in any way, with a listing and have it reviewed.   

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We can all look at your listings and see thats simply not the truth. Good greif!

[kh-missy]

This topic is now closed at the request of the OP. Thanks for understanding.