eBay

midtowncollectibles · ‎10-20-2020

Hi all,

We did a Google image search and discovered that someone lifted all of our images (even those with our watermark on them) along with our descriptions (verbatim) and is using them outside Ebay for their own sales. We have kept all of our templates and image work. So, we can prove that all the images belong to and were created by us. Can Ebay help us take action to have the stolen images taken down? Or, is it only if they are used by another seller on Ebay? If Ebay can not assist us, is there some sort of legal action we can take? Can we contact Google to have them removed even though we have no copyright for each image?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

kensgiftshop · ‎10-20-2020

@midtowncollectibles

Is it an affiliate site?

Ebay has an affiliate program where site owners promote your items on their sites and Ebay pays them a commission for any sales from their sites.

Have A Great Day.

midtowncollectibles · ‎10-20-2020

No. It is not. It is totally separate. Not a mirror site. It's a company. Not affiliated with Ebay at all. I checked to make sure.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-21-2020

There is Small Claims Court although if they are in a different country or even a different state that would be difficult.

You could have your attorney send them a cease and desist letter.

And since some of them have your watermark, is it possible that those pictures might have tempted some of their customers to buy from you?

Your attorney might also be able to qualify copyright. I believe (an I am not an attorney, this is based on various writer's convention panels I have attended) just the fact of having published original material gives you a copyright. For example, I have stored three novels on my WordPress account that I am no where near ready to publish, and it is my understanding that those documents are now copyright to me as are dozens of fanfics that I practiced writing with which are uploaded to AO3.

midtowncollectibles · ‎10-21-2020

Thank you for your insight. I can understand where someone gets a copyright for a book they authored. However, if someone is selling numerous items such as we are, wouldn't obtaining copyrights for each item likely be prohibitively expensive?

midtowncollectibles · ‎10-21-2020

They are in the same state.

charanagnos-0 · ‎10-21-2020

I think, you need a copyright on these images. Not 100% sure though!

midtowncollectibles · ‎10-21-2020

The other thing I just noticed is that they have the same exact quantity of each item available that we have. That is very odd. The prices that they are charging are astronomical. We wonder if maybe they try to sell our product on their site, and once it sells on their site, they buy it from us and send it to the customer from their site. Maybe it's worth their while as they are marking up our items way, way up. But how could their site be in sync with our quantity matching there's?

lja440 · ‎10-21-2020

@midtowncollectibles wrote:
The other thing I just noticed is that they have the same exact quantity of each item available that we have. That is very odd. The prices that they are charging are astronomical. We wonder if maybe they try to sell our product on their site, and once it sells on their site, they buy it from us and send it to the customer from their site. Maybe it's worth their while as they are marking up our items way, way up. But how could their site be in sync with our quantity matching there's?

It does sound like they are trying to use you to drop ship. Do they have other sellers merchandise listed too?

toysaver · ‎10-21-2020

Did you try to contact the company?

I recommend sending an invoice (a legal contract) for using your images and information on a monthly basis. Probably snail mail is more official looking. You own the copyrights to all weither or not you registered anything. Maybe it can be an alternate source of income.

hakallycollectibles · ‎11-05-2020

Hi mid-town collectibles:

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but was wondering how this situation turned out for you. I'm not sure what eBay's terms of service say about this situation, but, in my opinion, the TOS would not necessarily override the DMCA, and certainly not (absent an outright assignment) any copyright rights you might inherently own in your image. Only thing I could think of making this permissible is if eBay's TOS state that you are granting eBay rights in your image and that includes allowing others to use the image. Could be possible, but off the top of my head, it doesn't seem likely.

You may already be aware, but the Copyright Office has a way of filing multiple photographs with a single application which isn't too expensive. You may want to consider this in the future as it will greatly expand your options in situations like this (although creators/owners do have copyright rights in their images even without a registration). Truly hope this worked out for you as I'm sure it was beyond upsetting...

Sarah

PS I'm an IP attorney, but note that the above is not legal advice and that you should ideally discuss your particular situation with your attorney. Along these lines, keep in mind that most attorneys will meet you for an initial consultation at a relatively low cost and it may be money well-spent to get a feel for your options.