Despite all of this "if ebay don't care, neither should we" and blaming the victim instead of the criminal, I'm still not convinced that it's wrong for members of this forum to encourage people to abide by the law.
Despite all of this "if ebay don't care, neither should we" and blaming the victim instead of the criminal, I'm still not convinced that it's wrong for members of this forum to encourage people to abide by the law.
It's more of a case of "if ebay and the authorities don't care, there is nothing we can do about it". Many have tried with little impact, me being one of them. I don't think anyone is encouraging them either, just not total condemnation.Originally Posted by JSR
This thread has gone in a way that we least expected it, but to be honest it like a detective and a soap opera, I have enjoyed it following it as it has different from our normal threads, much as I have enjoyed reading it, I hope that we all have taken something from this, what I have taken from this is why come on a forum and boast about what money you take, use your name for tracing and have supposedly no license for the items you make, only a very stupid person does this. did he not realized reading the forum what it was about. i did think if he repliedf to some of the replies to would have been a very brave man, in the end he was just STUPID advertising his business on this forum.
I didn't get a chance to respond to comments made earlier today but I'd just like to reply quickly. It was me that initially asked the question about whether or not the member had a licence to print the images. Having asked us for advice on how to get more business, stating a turnover of 12k in a short time etc. I feel that we do indeed have the right to ask this question. This is not a question of morals and I most certainly have never policed this forum, quite the opposite in fact. If you feel that this is the case please tell me which threads have been policed?
As a responsible forum we do not want to encourage or condone printing images belonging to other individuals/companies which is why I asked this early on in the thread in the hope that the member concerned would respond quickly with a "Yes, I do have permission" but this is yet to happen. Having spent thousands myself on artwork in the past I would also be very upset if someone was to print this without permission. Just because it happens regularly on eBay does not make it right.
I will gladly close this thread at the originators request or will indeed police it myself if it continues to go in the direction it appears to be going.
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Contrary to what some people may have interpreted, my own contributions to this thread have not promoted copyright infringement in any way. Big companies like Disney and many anti counterfeit organisations use sophisticated software that automatically search the web for questioable merchandise. The others have considerable financial resources to have a dedicated employee just scanning the web full time for unlicensed merchandise.
Let us not forget however, that some of these big corporations and film companies with their banks of lawyers have themselves been accused of copyright theft and infringement of other people's rights and have sometimes had to pay significant damages through the courts.
I don't know why some rights holders choose not to pursue protection of their intellectual rights, but it's certainly not through those items being well hidden. A quick 'Google' will bring up dozens of items (usually on eBay). I can imagine a few jaded pop stars allowing it through personal vanity, but not film companies with millions invested in current released and the associated merchandising. Even stateside where there is allegedly an attorney lurking on every street corner, you will find tens of thousands of unlicensed items on the US eBay site.
It is up to the rights holders to secure and enforce their own intellectual property. If those rights owners choose to sit on their backsides and do nothing, then that really is THEIR problem and not something we should be involved with. Concentrate on your own business ventures, rather than worrying about what others are up to.
That's exactly what I decided after taking up issues with many ebay members in the past.
Dreamglass you haven't promoted copyright infringement, just accused those of us who don't rip off other peoples work, and believe that its wrong of being the moral police or green eyed monsters.
I'm not saying i'm perfect, but I don't use cracked software and I don't rip off other peoples designs or copyrights to make a quick buck, this way hopefully I can build a sustainable viable business, I have enough things to worry about without having to worry about legal letters and the likes.
The rights owners have the responsibility of protecting their own copyright and trademarks. Not some jealous trader in a related industry showing moral indignation. Those traders that choose to cross over the line make their own decisions and face the consequences of their actions.
People on here saying report this and report that, is all well and good till you cross the wrong people and also face the consequences of THEIR actions.
wow hot topic, i get the feeling justin was trying to give a well meant friendly warning of what could happen that obviously failed so hes my more brash two penneth worth.
Personally i couldnt give a flying fig who does what regarding copy right ,law etc as dream glass states i have more serious thing sto worry about but i will say this much , i wouldnt mind betting that each of us at some point has flown close to the wind especially when starting out. I definatly have i created a great harly davidson mug design (just one design). i had an email from lawyers in michigan demanding i cease with a huge list of what cant be used talk about cheek though harley now sell a mug with an almost identicle design of the one i created. 1 dubious design and they found me a quick search of ebay show hundreds of unofficial harley mugs now the guy who started this post has so many copy right infringements (unless of course hes spent millions on license fees) it can only be a matter of time before he gets a letter i only hope its a cease and desist letter and not a summons.We've all heard the term ambulance chaser well watch out folks cause there is now the equivilant in copy right circles. yes lawyers seek you out and then contact the copyright holder with a we'll sue em for you letter. you have been warned
Brett
I couldn't agree more with Brett & also so with Justin & Jonathan. At the end of the day it is upto you to take a chance if that is the road you want to go down. I used to be involved with a group of classic car clubs who had some videos produced many years ago from the original films made by a major car manufacturing group in the 1950's & 60's. We were horrified to find one of the films being sold as a DVD on Ebay complete with our copyright printed on the sleve. We got Ebay to remove it straight away & had to do the same with the same seller several more times. The seller then threatened us with legal action but we had now a major French car manufacturer who now owned the rights behind us. The French car manufacturer had given us permission to reproduce any item including the films & they said if anyone infringed the copyright it would be their lawyers who they would answer too & all we had to do was get in touch with them. This we did as we had had enough of this seller on Ebay with his threats to us & he was sent a letter direct from the French lawyers telling him he would sued in Paris & not the UK. They also gave him an idea of how much they would be seeking & the figure made us gasp I can tell you. The seller has never been seen again & we later found out he was a crook with quite a long police record.
As Brett said we have all sailed close to the wind at times but, these days are now different & there are a lot of layers looking to make a fast buck or two. If you want a good example well, just watch the TV programme Mary Portas, Secret Shopper & you will see that any shot of her car or her in her car they have had to blank out the 3 pointed star Mercedes-Benz logo.
Ian
