eBay Failure to Remove Copyright Images
adam261179 stole our 2003 proof gold Krugerrand photograph, to use on eBay.
We reported this to eBay on 23rd June 2009, but eBay appear to have ignored our VeRO report, and have failed to remove the images from their website.
High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 0; with 100% positive according to eBay.
Sample Listing
South African Krugerrand
Item number 170346979213 - Original Listing
The Krugerrand is 32.6 mm in diameter and 2.74 mm thick.Gold South African Krugerrands The Krugerrand's actual weight is 1.0909 troy ounces (33.93 g). It is minted from gold alloy that is 91.67% pure (22 karats), so the coin contains one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of pure gold. The remaining 8.33% of the coin's weight (2.826 g) is copper, which gives the Krugerrand a more orange appearance than silver-alloyed gold coins. Gold alloy coins are harder and more durable, so they can resist scratches and dents.
The Krugerrand is so named because the obverse bears the face of Boer statesman Paul Kruger, four-term president of the old South African Republic. The reverse depicts a springbok, one of the national symbols of South Africa. The image was designed by Coert Steynberg, and was previously used on the reverse of the earlier South African five shilling coin. The name "South Africa" and the gold content are inscribed in both Afrikaans and English.
VeRO Report
*Notice of Claimed Infringement - Statutory Declaration*
eBay International A.G.
Attn: VeRO Programme
Fax: +44 (0) 870 458 4522
Date: As below
Dear eBay,
I, Lawrence Chard
Of Chard (1964) Limited
do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:
• I am the owner, or an agent authorised to act on behalf of the owner, of certain intellectual
property rights (“IP Owner”);
• I have a good faith belief that the listings identified below (by item number) offer items or
contain materials that are not authorised by the IP Owner, its agent, or the law, and therefore
infringe the IP Owner’s rights according to English law; and
• I make this declaration conscientiously believing it to be true and correct and in accordance
with English law.
Rights owner: Lawrence Chard and / or Chard (1964) Limited_____________________________________________________________
Address of the rights owner: 32 - 36 Harrowside, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY4 1RJ_________________________________________________________________
_____
I may be contacted at:
Name and Title of the author of the Notice: _Mr. L. Chard_____________________________________
Company of the author of the Notice: Chard (1964) Limited_______________________________________
___
Address: 32 - 36 Harrowside, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY4 1RJ, England_______________________________________________________________
email address (for communication with eBay): *******____________________________________
email address (for communication with sellers)*: *******___________________________________
Telephone: ___01253 343081___________________________________________________________
Fax: _____01253 408058______________________________________________________________
* please fill in, if you wish to have a different address.
In addition to the undersigned, the following persons have the proper authority to sign future Notices of
Claimed Infringement on behalf of the IP Owner:
Name:_Trish Jenkins___________________________
email address: __*******__________________
Yours faithfully,
Signature
*Reason Code*:
*Copyright Infringing **/Listing /**Content *
4.2 Listing(s) uses unauthorized copy of copyrighted image
or
4.1 Listing(s) uses unauthorized copy of copyrighted text
or
4.3 Listing(s) uses unauthorized copies of copyrighted image and text
*We also hereby request you to supply us with the full contact details of the infringing member. *
Please note that in our experience, eBay members infringing copyright should also be treated with suspicion, as it is likely that they do not own the coins or other items for which they are using copied images, they may be falsely misrepresenting the condition of the coins offered, and if copying our text, they may be falsely pretending to have expert knowledge of the items being offered.
Please also note that most of our images can be identified and verified by the presence of a Digimarc watermark.
Item Number(s)
170346979213
*Member ID*
adam261179
*Date*
23rd Jun 2009
What's Wrong?
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and cost into creating some of the best photographic coin images on the internet. We strongly object when lazy and dishonest people decide to use them without a by your leave or thanks, doing so in competition with us.
Copyright theft is dishonest. We recommend you avoid doing business with dishonest dealers.
This particular eBay seller not only stole one of images of an 2003 proof gold Krugerrand, he used it in a listing for a non-proof Krugerrand. It's possible he is ignorant of such fine points, or just plain ignorant.
It is always possible, even likely, that sellers who steal photographs do not own a similar coin, and have the intention to defraud potential buyers.
The vendor is not only cheating us by stealing our copyright images, she is fraudulently or ignorantly misleading and deceiving all potential buyers. Gaining pecuniary advantage by deception is the definition of fraud.
He purports to some level of expertise, by also stealing or copying some quite detailed facts and information about Krugerrands, but omits to say that he is dishonest enough to steal other people's hard work. It is always good practice to quote your source when relying on the existing work of others.
Price
Winning bid: £600.00
What's Worse?
eBay Guilty of Negligence or Complicity
We reported this example of copyright abuse on 23rd Jun 2009, using our standard Statutory Declaration via the eBay VeRO programme, and eBay have, not for the first time, chosen to ignore our report. We look forward to taking legal action against eBay for their negligence and / or complicity.
Although the item listing itself appears to have been removed, copied of our original image remain on eBay's site in various places.
In our recent experience and opinion, eBay are often negligent in failing to remove reported IP infringements promptly if at all.
We have come to believe that eBay is a profit-driven amoral and unprincipled organisation, which issues misleading inaccurate and dishonest statements about its ethics, but persistently fails to maintain standards of integrity. This makes them, in our opinion, complicit with the numerous crooks who infest the pages of their sites, and possibly the worst offender of all.
Copyright Notice
Please see our "Copyright" page for further information.
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We already have a page naming and shaming dealers using our images without permission. It's time we did the same for eBay, although if we include them all, this could be a very long page.
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adam261179 eBay Item Number 170346979213 Invalid Item
adam261179 eBay Profile Not a Registered User
eBay Watch List Including adam261179 Item Number 170346979213
Fifth From Bottom - As At 16th July 2009
eBay Item Number 170346979213 Buyer 5 No longer Registered with eBay
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