Photo copyright abuse

[bransonleia15]

Buyers are buying items from Ebay then reselling them on other commercial or private websites using your  photos, heading and in some cases your write up and description.  In my case an online auction house in FL.  This is happening far more than you would think.   Ebay has the following policy: “When you create listings you give eBay and its members permission, through our user agreement, to use your images and product details. Your content may be added to the eBay product catalog and may be used by other sellers in their EBAY LISTINGS”.  The key here is YES you can use somebody’s photos and parts of there write up for your Ebay listing, bad idea though.  Like it or not.  But the key here is the last part of the Ebay statement ( used by other sellers in their EBAY LISTINGS).  Ebay does not in this or any other regulation I can find authorize the use of your photos or other parts of your listing for use in commercial selling online outside Ebay.  This should therefore be against copyright laws.  You do the work; they profit from it.  Ebay listing are now considered educational and research material.  And in many cases does not come under copyright laws.  Profit gains from selling items using your listing outside Ebay must fall under copyright protection.  What can you do about it?  Ask them to remove it from their site.  Or hire a lawyer. Ask Ebay to step in and stop it, not going to happen.  In short not much.  So, anyone else got thoughts on this. 

Dan  Long time seller and frustrated.

[myboardid]

In order to protect that information you would have to apply for and obtain a legal copyright from the federal gov't. 

[7606dennis]

I believe that several years back eBay granted themselves the non-exclusive rights to use material uploaded to the site in a UA update.  This gives them the right to allow other members to use that material which they make available through their catalog.  However, I don't believe that that allows other people to use that copyrighted material for other purposes outside of eBay's site.  Might I suggest that one visit the US Copyright Office site to learn more about one's copyright protection.

Of course, copyright law is somewhat involved so I would suggest someone that has had their copyright infringed to consult an attorney competent in that field of law.

By the way, I believe that, while not absolutely required, registration of one's copyrighted material is a very good thing when it comes to recovering damages for infringement.  

[fashunu4eeuh]

@myboardid wrote:

In order to protect that information you would have to apply for and obtain a legal copyright from the federal gov't. 

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Hi, @myboardid  Just to clarify, the government copyright site says one does not need to apply for or obtain an official copyright from the government in order to be protected. Since copyright protection is automatic from the moment a work is created, registration is not required in order to protect one's work. However, one must file an application for registration before they can sue someone for infringement in the US.

https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html

[bransonleia15]

All good reply's Thanks.  This a problem Ebay lets happen.  " Buyers are always right" Ebay 101.  Same old story.  Not worth paying lawyer.  Mostly letting off steam.  So many things wrong with Ebay so little you can do.  But still hard to beat if you are selling.  This was more of an information post of something that is going on.  Have notified buyer and Online auction to remove pics.  Have to see what happens.    Dan

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

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@bransonleia15 wrote:

Ask Ebay to step in and stop it, not going to happen.

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Of course eBay is not going to "step in" and stop it. That is not eBay's job - they do not have copyright enforcement powers over other websites.  

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@bransonleia15 wrote:

So, anyone else got thoughts on this. 

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One question a lawyer might ask is "what harm you have suffered from this?" 

"Courts have also recognized an exception to copyright infringement when the unauthorized use of a copyrighted work is deemed “de minimis,” or too minor and trivial to merit court intervention."

https://www.jgschwartzlawblog.com/court-rules-on-the-de-minimis-exception-to-copyright-infringement/

[for_bra]

I am responding to this 3 years later because I experienced this first hand this morning. After seeing this post I thought I’d follow up with what happened.

I got an alert from LiveAuctioneers that an auction house in Dover, DE had listed something I follow. I immediately recognized my photos from a current listing on eBay, so I clicked the link; the same item title as my listing as well as all my photos in the same order. Except for the header, LiveAuctioneer’s page was identical to mine on eBay. When asked if the Delaware photos were of the actual item being auctioned, I was told ‘yes’. When I suggested they were mine, and that at best their actions and response were unethical, they said they would look into it. When I insisted they do a side by side comparison, the apology was almost immediate, the Delaware listing was pulled within minutes.

During all this (just 2 hours) I was in touch with eBay. No, they wouldn’t do anything, but sent all the links concerning eBay policies, where to get copyright info, and finally encouraging me to insist with LiveAuctioneers.

All in all I was satisfied with the results. I wonder if responsible sites are more responsive than 3 years ago when confronted with anything remotely litigious?

In any event, I learned a lot today so thought I would share.

[kh-phdan]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!