eBay

j2774 · ‎10-14-2018

I have a friend who is a very accomplished artist. His work has been shown in galleries in New York and Massachusetts. He began selling some of his work on eBay a few years ago, and much to his chagrin, he discovered that other people were making bad copies of his work and selling the copies on eBay. Some of the copies even still showed his signature! He complained to eBay, but he said they told him they could do nothing about it. I was floored to hear this! I said, if you file a complaint, and eBay does nothing about it, and they make money off of these copies, that makes eBay complicit in the intellectual property right infringment. I could not believe eBay would not be all over this sort of thing like white on rice.

I also heard of a similar infrigement. There is a seller on eBay that makes inexpensive jewellery using photos. A buyer asked if the seller could make a piece for them using their own personal photo, and the seller said, yes, send me the photo, and I will make the piece for you. Photo was sent; custom product was made; buyer purchased the custom made product. Later, buyer discovered the seller had continued to use the buyer's very private and personal photo to make more jewellery to sell on eBay. The buyer complained to eBay and was told nothing could be done about it. Once again, I was appalled to hear that eBay would do nothing. If the buyer alone created the photo and paid someone to make use it for a one off custom piece of jewellery, why would ebay not clobber a seller for continuning to use it? How would anyone at eBay like it if a photo of their child or grandchild or whatever was being prostituted by someone to put money in their pocket?

I am sure if I continue to talk to other eBayers about this, I will learn of other stories, too. Why oh why does almight eBay claim impotence these matters? Does anyone know if a class action suit for this sort of thing has been filed against eBay ever? Something should be done. This should NEVER be tolerated.

Taking credit for someone else's creation is tantamount to copying answers off of another test taker's paper. It is cheating. Anyone caught cheating receives an F and is usually suspended and even expelled, and this pertains to any exam anywhere from grade school through univeristy as well as in entrace tests such as the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, etc., etc. Cheating is simply not tolerated, except perhaps one eBay. I, for one, want honest answers as to why eBay would tolerate this dishonesty. The person(s) who do use someone else's work to make money or for any other reason are just as likely to rob your home or car or anything else if they knew where you lived. They are theives, criminals, plain and simple, and if they robbed your home or vandalised your automobile and police caught them, they would go to JAIL. Ebay does not even have to put in the sort of effort police do to catch the thieves. All eBay has to do is to not let them list anyone on eBay. What is so complicated about stopping intellectual property rights infringment?

j2774 · ‎10-15-2018

(LOL) susmc123, they do not seem to be to deal with much in my experience!

susmcl23 · ‎10-15-2018

I also heard of a similar infrigement. There is a seller on eBay that makes inexpensive jewellery using photos. A buyer asked if the seller could make a piece for them using their own personal photo, and the seller said, yes, send me the photo, and I will make the piece for you. Photo was sent; custom product was made; buyer purchased the custom made product. Later, buyer discovered the seller had continued to use the buyer's very private and personal photo to make more jewellery to sell on eBay.
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Im not sure how this would be handled since the family gave the artist permission to use the photo in the first place.

It falls under "derivative work". They would need to contact an attorney to see what can be done.

monster-deals · ‎10-16-2018

@susmcl23 wrote:

Im not sure how this would be handled

Nothing would happen.

I mean they could sue the artist, (you can sue anybody for anything if you pay and file the paperwork)...but then the artist could turn around and sue them too and in the end the only people that get compensated are the lawyers involved.

luckythewinner · ‎10-16-2018

@j2774 wrote:
Thank you, luckythewinner. I hope it works for these people. I still do not understand why, though, after it was reported to eBay customer service, people were told "there is nothing we can do about it."

The customer support rep was technically correct - there is nothing "we" (customer support) can do about it. It is the IP owner who has to do something about it ... 😄

But seriously, eBay customer support has a reputation for not being very knowledgeable.

j2774 · ‎10-16-2018

Ha! Tell me about it!

emerald40 · ‎10-16-2018

@j2774 wrote:
jen_proudleowife, I am checking with my artist friend right now to see if he was able to obtain relief through VERO. I have not heard back yet, but my fear is that he will tell me he tried, but they did not help him, and the only recourse he had was to see the miscreants which was cost prohibitive.

This is why class action suits are so important. They allow an attorney to consolidate many claims that are not worth a huge amount of money each into one big claim that is worth the attorney's time and effort to go after the wrongdoers. In my personal opinion, eBay is just as guilty as those who violate someone'e intellectual property rights because eBay is allowing them the platform to do it.

Your artist friend should understand that once something is put on the Internet it is almost impossible to control it after that. That is why if you do not want it out there, do not put it out there.

The police cannot prevent someone who is determined to rob a bank. They can only act afterwards to catch him. Same with ebay. With millions of listings they cannot determine who owns what, unless you become vero then contact them and show this is your Intellectual Propery. Then I can tell you from experience, they act fast and down the offending listing will go.

emerald40 · ‎10-16-2018

@pburn wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Unless you are the rights holder of that brand, you can't vero them anyway. Your best bet is to contact the rights holder with the information so that they can contact ebay and have those listings taken down.
I didn't see anything in the OP's posts indicating s/he wanted to file a VeRO complaint him/herself. I think s/he just started the thread as a point of discussion. More like "asking for a friend."

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Then until it is done you cannot blame ebay for their inaction in removing the offending listing, if you do not let them know about it.

j2774 · ‎10-16-2018

Sadly, emerald40, I have to agree with this. It is a shame that so many people are antisocial and have no respect for other people's work, property, etc. It really burns my toast how the rest of society has to pay to track down, prosecute, and in some cases incarcerate criminals for years if not for their entire lives. I was always against the death penalty in my youth, but I am moving further and further away from that view the older I become.

emerald40 · ‎10-16-2018

@or_couture wrote:
@pjcdn2005 wrote:
@or_couture wrote:
Yes, VERO helps. You fill a form email them and they would take off those listings (if they are indeed fake) in 2-3 days or so.

The brand I sell is heavily replicated on eBay and eBay is full with fake items of that brand. Too bad eBay isn't doing much about it cause it def brings my sales down, for sure. And I can't vero each and every one, there are thousands of them... Easily spotted (quality and price point).
Unless you are the rights holder of that brand, you can't vero them anyway. Your best bet is to contact the rights holder with the information so that they can contact ebay and have those listings taken down.
Right. I wonder how that brand doesn't care about it. There are many fake website "selling" their items and they don't seem to take them down.. I don't get it.

Wait, this seller does not own the intellectual rights. Is this OP authorized to sell it or just took it upon himself to do so? The item being legit does not give you the right to start your own business off someone's intellectual property.

So obviously in that case one would not want to contact the company if you are doing the same thing you are complaining that others are doing.

emerald40 · ‎10-16-2018

@or_couture wrote:
@j2774 wrote:
jen_proudleowife, I am checking with my artist friend right now to see if he was able to obtain relief through VERO. I have not heard back yet, but my fear is that he will tell me he tried, but they did not help him, and the only recourse he had was to see the miscreants which was cost prohibitive.

This is why class action suits are so important. They allow an attorney to consolidate many claims that are not worth a huge amount of money each into one big claim that is worth the attorney's time and effort to go after the wrongdoers. In my personal opinion, eBay is just as guilty as those who violate someone'e intellectual property rights because eBay is allowing them the platform to do it.
OP, VERO does work! Print the form with all the details, sign and email them the form - vero@ebay.com - in 2-3 days if everything is ok in the form, you'll see those listings being taken down.

Vero only works if you are the right holder.