eBay

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

This store here is selling 5,000+ magazine advertisement REPRINTS as posters. This guy is making a killing selling completely illegal products on eBay. He takes a magazine page, or magazine advertisement, and reproduces it to different sizes. He is breaching copyright of countless different licensed properties.

I have reported a few listings to eBay but nothing happens. I am looking for any other advice anyone might have to take action on something like this, and have this stopped. There are thousands of honest sellers selling legitimate vintage advertisements on eBay. People like this are undercutting their business and doing something completely unacceptable, against eBay policy, and just sitting pretty and getting away with it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to take effective action against this? Thank you for any input.

stainlessenginecovers · ‎03-19-2023

Because you are not the hired authority on this, this site will simply ignore you. If a copyright owner has a problem with anything being sold, they will report it via the VERO program.

hartungcards · ‎03-19-2023

I can think of one way not to take effective action against this - and that would be naming and shaming them here.

pburn · ‎03-19-2023

It would be up to the license holders of the images to voice their objection to the items. Perhaps you might try contacting those license holders to call their attention to that seller's store.

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

So what is the point of the eBay policy? https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/counterfeit-item-policy?id=4276

What is the point of "reporting an item"?

The only thing that works against this is a legitimate copyright owner filing a VERO violation? Is there any way to encourage that ourselves by reporting sellers like this to copyright holders through a violations protection agency?

This all seems egregiously unjust and ought to be corrected. If people can't do anything about illegal items being sold on eBay, then eBay's policies are moot and reporting an item useless.

ebooksdiva · ‎03-19-2023

The only thing that works against this is a legitimate copyright owner filing a VERO violation?

That is correct because you are not the copyright holder.

albertabrightalberta · ‎03-19-2023

@geek_barn wrote:
So what is the point of the eBay policy? https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/counterfeit-item-policy?id=4276

What is the point of "reporting an item"?

The only thing that works against this is a legitimate copyright owner filing a VERO violation? Is there any way to encourage that ourselves by reporting sellers like this to copyright holders through a violations protection agency?

This all seems egregiously unjust and ought to be corrected. If people can't do anything about illegal items being sold on eBay, then eBay's policies are moot and reporting an item useless.

You can report the item(s) as counterfeit but you cannot come here to point out (what you believe are) violations.

Nor can you name and shame!

albertabrightalberta | Volunteer Community Mentor
"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you."

luckythewinner · ‎03-19-2023

@geek_barn wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to take effective action against this? Thank you for any input.

You have no power to enforce someone else's copyright.

This is a civil matter, not a criminal one and that decision belongs to the copyright holder.

Many of them are advertisements for video games and were intended to be publicized, so it would be the game manufacturers and not the magazines who would likely be the IP owner.

All you can do is report them if you are compelled, or contact the game manufacturers.

luckythewinner · ‎03-19-2023

@geek_barn wrote:
What is the point of "reporting an item"?

To report the items and bring them to eBay's attention. What eBay does with that information is eBay's business, not yours.

The policy does not say that eBay will take the word of an unknown third party and unilaterally remove those items based on your say-so.

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

@pburn wrote:
It would be up to the license holders of the images to voice their objection to the items. Perhaps you might try contacting those license holders to call their attention to that seller's store.

This is a helpful answer, and thank you. It is still wrong for eBay to permit reporting an item as counterfeit, yet they will not take proper action unless it is a copyright holder that does so. What is the point of that option then? Utterly useless.

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

@albertabrightalberta wrote:
@geek_barn wrote:
So what is the point of the eBay policy? https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/counterfeit-item-policy?id=4276

What is the point of "reporting an item"?

The only thing that works against this is a legitimate copyright owner filing a VERO violation? Is there any way to encourage that ourselves by reporting sellers like this to copyright holders through a violations protection agency?

This all seems egregiously unjust and ought to be corrected. If people can't do anything about illegal items being sold on eBay, then eBay's policies are moot and reporting an item useless.
You can report the item(s) as counterfeit but you cannot come here to point out (what you believe are) violations.

Nor can you name and shame!

It is not my belief, it is a fact. Any replica or reprint of a copyright protected property is illegal. There have been a few cases in law where merely framing a vintage advertisement has been considered a derivative work and deemed illegal. Reprinting or reproducing copyrighted material for resale is a no-brainer, it is illegal.

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

@hartungcards wrote:
I can think of one way not to take effective action against this - and that would be naming and shaming them here.

I wasn't aware this was about the eBay forum policy. Sorry about that.

ebooksdiva · ‎03-19-2023

@geek_barn wrote:
@hartungcards wrote:
I can think of one way not to take effective action against this - and that would be naming and shaming them here.
I wasn't aware this was about the eBay forum policy. Sorry about that.

You can read up on Community Guidelines here >Community Guidelines - The eBay Community

geek_barn · ‎03-19-2023

@ebooksdiva wrote:
@geek_barn wrote:
@hartungcards wrote:
I can think of one way not to take effective action against this - and that would be naming and shaming them here.
I wasn't aware this was about the eBay forum policy. Sorry about that.
You can read up on Community Guidelines here >Community Guidelines - The eBay Community

Thank you.