eBay

jr4241 · ‎12-25-2020

I had a company message me on ebay (from their business ebay account) stating I did not have permission to use their photos. They stated if I did not remove the photos, they would report the listing reported as a VeRO violation.

I was using a stock photo for this item, which is on their company website. The photo is also on amazon, other ebay listings, and other retailer sites.

Is a photo like this considered acceptable to use under the "Fair Use" of the copyright laws?

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-25-2020

No. Taking an image from a company's website without their permission is a violation of copyright law. Even if other people are doing it. You don't know whether they have the company's permission; other retailers probably do. I'm not sure what you mean by the term "stock photo", but putting an image on the internet doesn't automatically release it for public use.

tdumonde2014 · ‎12-25-2020

You cannot use someone else's photos. The others using those photos may have permission.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.ht...

"Those who enter the arena unarmed or unprepared are quickly dispatched."

caldreamer · ‎12-25-2020

Do HELP search for IMAGES & TEXT POLICY. This gives you complete details of what EBAY allows and what is not allowed.

dbfolks166mt · ‎12-25-2020

Vero is eBay's own intellectual property protection policy and has nothing to do with other online sites. That being said if the image/photo is one you took from their company website it may or may not be protected depending on whether they have "copyright" to the photo/image.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-25-2020

Using someone’s copyrighted material for personal or business gain does not constitute fair use.

“What is fair use? Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder for purposes such as criticism, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and teaching.”

Using Copyrighted Material | Copyright | Baylor University

coolections · ‎12-25-2020

Take your own pictures. Buyers want to see the actual item you will be sending them anyway. I typically hit the back button on sellers using stock photos when purchasing items.

ceyvov_0 · ‎12-25-2020

Consider yourself lucky, most often VeRo rights owners do not message us in any form.

They simply report us and ebay immediately deletes the whole listing, pictures and description and everything gone, in addition you're issued a violation.

So I would take their gentle warning and kindly make the changes requested, but that's just me.