eBay auction warning

[qruthie]

I am glad it was taken care of too, because if he had tried to claim it as his own legally, he might have wound up in a lawsuit himself if Disney caught wind of it.

Yes. On the other hand, Disney might have just let Bob do them the favor of paying the legal fees to have their picture removed from an ebay listing that they didn't endorse.

My point was, Bob did the right thing by starting with the seller instead of hauling out the big guns. Lately it seems like people tend to run to a lawyer first rather than try to solve a problem by dealing directly with another person.

 

[mtlhddoc2]

agreed qruthie...

I have approached this entire topic from a legal standpoint (mainly because legality was brought up early) - as far as the image stealing, I have no personal opinion, really, but the bandwidth stealing, well, especially from those free sites with limited bandwidth per user, this could have caused bob some issues, and imageshack could have gotten involved in that as well. Bandwidth stealing is all too common, but most people do not even understand why it is wrong. It is also sometimes called "crosslinking" but this is a less than accurate description.

Bandwidth stealing, for those who dont know is when you link to an image which is hosted on a site which does not belong to you. Whether you drop it on a web page or on a message board in a signature or avatar. The site you link to is getting charged for the ammount of time the image is accessed and downloaded onto someones computer. This is called "Bandwidth". By linking to that picture, you cause the number of "hits" on the image to go up, thereby causing the original site to be charged more money for usage. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C for short) has estimated that over $40 Billion dollars of billable bandwidth was stolen last year. In certain cases, felony theft charges have been filed (I dont know the outcome of the cases). This is similar to hooking up to your neighbors electricity. If anyone wants to know more on tis issue, simply look up "Bandwidth Stealing" in google.

 

[cat_herder]

Actually, even an "uncopyable" state can still be copied and saved to your computer. In my quest of gathering pictures of old movies stars for my personal screensaver, I learned how to do that from a programmer.

Which stars do you like? I love old movies.

Actually, they may own my character and they may make me change my character's name. But they do not own any rights to the name of cteddiesgirl.
I can prove that I am the only person to ever use it on the web and I have used it everywhere for several years. Long before VMK ever came into being.

I've been using cat_herder, cat herder, cat.herder, cat_hederr for about 10 years.

 

[The Wolf]

To be honest the whole VMK/Ebay thing is hilarious.

It is against the VMK rules to sell this stuff but if Disney REALLY wanted to stop it they could very easily have a word with the folks at EBay and stop all sales of VMK items.

Why don't they?

Because it helps promote their game of course.

I may be stating the obvious to many of you but it just makes me laugh when people get upset about stuff being sold on EBay.

I understand Bob's torment as over the years of working in publishing I have seen many of my works both written and artwork stolen and claimed as others.

If you really want to put an end to EBay sales simply bombard the sellers with questions that point out how they are breaking rules and in some cases scamming people (such as the current auction selling 500 unused pirate codes and guaranteeing that one of them is a Sparrow costume, as if?).

Just my two cents.

 

[mtlhddoc2]

If you really want to put an end to EBay sales simply bombard the sellers with questions that point out how they are breaking rules and in some cases scamming people (such as the current auction selling 500 unused pirate codes and guaranteeing that one of them is a Sparrow costume, as if?).

Just my two cents.

1st: That guy does not gaurentee a Sparrow Costume at all in his auctions. It is not a scam. But if you read real quick, of course it may seem that way. Always read the WHOLE auction listing.

2nd: Bombarding the seller with threats only gets you banned from ebay and you could wind up with criminal "Harrassment" charges. Bombarding buyers with threats will also get you banned from ebay and, in addition to harrassment, could also have you up on criminal "Restraint of Trade" or "Trade Interference" charges. Since it is accross the internet, and if the buyer and seller are in a different state than you it is possible that you could wind up with Federal charges as well.

 

[Maleficent2]

Doc

I am not saying that you are right or wrong but when a image is associated with a person that image becomes their ID just as a user name does.

I have used Maleficent2 on the net for almost 10 years now and my sig pic with my name on it for over a year.

It has come to my attention today that someone has my sig posted on their "my space" page and I am not happy about it.

The pic is a Disney pic but another DISer made the sig for me with my id on it. Although I am flattered that she likes it so much, I am not at all happy that she is linking to my pic or using it without my permission.

 

[mtlhddoc2]

Mal, I did alot of research on the issue for a project I was working on for a Card company and some artists who draw images on cards for them. I am rather well versed in image rights laws and fair use exceptions. Technically, even though you have used the image for a year, you never owned it in any form. And your username is actually a Disney trademark, so they could also stop you from using it if they so chose to. Usenet/Message Board postings do not constitute fair use. Neither do usernames or titles. Im not hear to bust anyone's chops, but knowing the facts and laws is almost nessecary since the topic of "ownership" keeps coming up.

Important point #1: you can claim ownership of an image you have used for quite some time and force someone to remove it from an auction or website PROVIDING noone else has a previous claim to it.

Important point #2: Disney states in every web page and Terms of Service that they retain ownership of images and you are NOT allowed to modify them in any way shape size or form. By using a modified image, you break about 8 copyright laws.

Important point #3: Read Disneys "Use" guidlines, I will repost, straight from Disney Corporate website:

RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF MATERIALS

All materials contained in any WDIG Site are the copyrighted property of Disney Enterprises, Inc., or its subsidiaries or affiliated companies and/or third-party licensors. All trademarks, service marks, trade names, and trade dress are proprietary to Disney Enterprises, Inc., or its affiliates or licensees. No material from any WDIG Site or any Internet site owned, operated, licensed, or controlled by us may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except that you may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, noncommercial home use only, provided that (i) you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices, (ii) you make no modifications to the materials, (iii) you do not use the materials in a manner that suggests an association with any of our products, services, or brands, and (iv) you do not download quantities of materials to a database that can be used to avoid future downloads from any WDIG Site. The use of any WDIG material on any other Web site or computer environment is prohibited.

In the event you download software from any WDIG Site, the software, including any files, images incorporated in or generated by the software, and data accompanying the software (collectively, the "Software") are licensed to you by us or third-party licensors for your personal, noncommercial home use only. We do not transfer title to the Software to you. You own the medium on which the Software is recorded, but we (or our third-party licensors) retain full and complete title to the Software and all intellectual property rights therein. You may not redistribute, sell, auction, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the Software to a human-readable form.

 

[Maleficent2]

I am going to disagree with you about my username while Maleficent may be trademarked by Disney Maleficent2 is not.

I am not a lawyer so I will not debate legal issues of such with you.

I also feel the complexity of this issue is very deep and could not be possibly touched in the thread such as this.

 

[mtlhddoc2]

I also feel the complexity of this issue is very deep and could not be possibly touched in the thread such as this.

I agree with you there. I could really go on and on and on about how, in reality, this entire site, and every other site, unless they have express written permission from Disney, breaks hundreds of copyright and trademark laws.

some things to consider on your username - is it fair use? First off it is not distinctive enough to be considered "unique" - if it was, I could start a car company and call it "Ford2" and it would be valid. Some sites to consider, since you do not wnat to debate:

http://www.publaw.com/fairusetrade.html
http://www.trademark.iastate.edu/basics/

Leaving work now, dont have time to dig up other sites at the moment, but I might later on or tomorrow.

My purpose here is not to debate or accuse. I have no opinion on your usernames or signatures. Really.
My intention here is to educate. Many people seem to think that they own things they do not own, when in fact, they are breaking copyright law by even displaying the items in their signature.

 

[Maleficent2]

Content of posts is considered the poster's 'intellectual property', and is protected under the DCMA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act).

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR:


just something else to read and ponder.

I am also closing this thread because what Bob posted about has been taken care of and the eBayer has removed his signature from her auctions.