Another Ebay Issue

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Posted By: Mike

Heard of a seller who was selling an autograped photo from a large photo find and lawyer for photograper is now threatening suit because photo is copyrighted and Ebay seller put image on Ebay that had authentic signature. Anybody ever heard of this type of thing? Wouldn't all online auction houses have problems with signed photos??

Mike

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Posted By: David Davis

About a year ago I listed a Cal Ripken signed photo that I had him personally sign years ago. It was taken down; Cal's company is a VERO participant.

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Posted By: Larry

I would just go ahead and threaten to file suit against them if they interfere with your auction again. Tabberone wins nearly every VERO case filed against her. 95% of the time, they back down. Here is a link:

http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/trademarks.html

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Assuming the photo itself is not unauthorized and it's not an extraordinarilly large and quality scan, I think the photographer would have a hard time winning in court. It accepted that, within reason, people can show a picture of items they are selling.

Threatening honest resellers of a photographer's photos only hurts the photographer. People are going to be hesitant to buy the photographer's photos if the fear they're going to be sued if they ever wish to resell it.

It's like as if Dan Marino's lawyer threatened lawsuit every time someone offered for sale one of Marino's genuine game used jerseys. The pool of collectors willing to buy a Marino jersey will dry up. Marino himself will be hurt, as few will be willing to by jerseys even from him, unless the price is deeply discounted. Spend your money on a Joe Montana, as his lawyer won't threaten you.

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Posted By: Paul

If the photo is authorized, it is not a copyright violation. There is a specific section of the Copyright Act which states that the owner of an authorized photo/painting/etc. is entitled to show a picture of his item when advertising it for sale.