Email from ebid ? i broke the rules ?

[smurfury]

Morning all.

I just received an email ( copied and pasted below )but this item has been listed for a year with no problems, what does it mean? how did i break the rules ? ... Thanks for help, julie.


Hi smurfury,

eBid has a set of rules that should be adhered to when listing auctions. It has come to our attention that you may have listed an auction that was not in accordance with these rules.

Offence : Infringement on Intellectual Property.

150684809 # 5 X The smurfs smurf smurfette phon Sock Brand New & Sealed party bag fillers ? # Electronics>Phones>Mobile & Cell Phones>Accessories>Accessories for All>Cases & Pouches


Relevant auction(s) have been removed.

Your account has not been placed on Hold but repeating the infringement will result in your account being reviewed.

To view the eBid Posting Rules please visit our Helpdesk > Selling FAQ.

Best Wishes
eBid Support Team

[pastime]

Sounds as though a complaint has been made by whoever owns the copyright. These companies constantly check online listings and act with threats - happens all the time even if listing as e.g: 'Tiffany style', you can't even use the expression 'Tiffany blue' without having it pulled. No easy way around this.

[smurfury]

Thanks for reply, Sorry if i am being thick but does this mean i can't sell phone socks anymore ? i have been listing them for a year with no problems.
Do i just change the photos or do i have to take all the listing off?
Thanks again julie.

[pastime]

Just reading ecommerce bulletin:
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abbl...472400847.html
covering the latest from Amazon regarding branded goods.
Re: your socks am assuming it may the one/ones with a copyright image (haven't checked your listing, so I'm not sure what you are selling).
It might pay to contact Support and get a clear reason why you've received the email (in case I'm misinforming you, but on other sites if you continue to Infringe Copyright account can be closed. On the warning I had (not eBid) it suggested I contact the company concerned.
Not trying to be unduly alarmist - best check with Support for clarification, and see if this is the case.

[lofty100e]

I have to agree with Jan on this, eBid support are very helpful, I once listed a DvD which was deleted very soon after. I contacted them to ask why and they told me that I had inadvertently placed it in the Bluray section. They then re-instated it in the correct place.

The support team do not trawl the listings for problems, but rely on users to alert them to any problems.

[Shesawaya38485]

As of this time, your "socks" are still in your store - hopefully you got it squared away

I too read the article that Pastime mentioned and after once getting a warning from another site about a knockoff handbag (I was told it was real when I bought it!) did a lot of research on Copyright Infringement. The knockoff handbag industry got so bad that Copyright owners were trying to make it illegal for a person to sell a used designer bag. I think once you purchase something, since the manufacturer doesn't care if you take it home and burn it because it belongs to you, then they shouldn't care if you want to resell it - providing it's not a knock off.

NBC/Universal owns the copyright on Smurf products and sells them in their online store but I didn't see any "phone socks" listed for sale. Not to say they didn't sell any, just aren't right now.

Let us know what you find out

[smurfury]

Thanks for the reply's .
I have been out today but i will message the owners and will let you know what happens.
I never knew that NBC/Universal owned the copyright to smurf products!
Again thanks so much, julie.

[Idealproductsales]

I had to add - if the product contains a smurf motif or logo, then it has to be an official licensed product - unless you are an authorized retailer for smurf branded items from a manufacturer with a legitimate license to produce the same smurf branded items (they pay license fees to Universal) - if it is being sold as new (implying manufacturer warranty such as it may be) then it can fall under Intellectual Property Infringement and the burden to prove that the product is actually a legitimately licensed and distributed product (Not Grey Market, Black Market or Knock-Off) lies on the seller - If it is being sold as USED (implying no warranty whatsoever) then it would not be a problem, because in that case, First Sale Doctrine ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine ) applies - There is an argument that it also applies to Retail Arbitrage (Buying from a legit retailer such as Wal-Mart to Re-Sell) but even that still falls afoul of the fact that once sold any warranty (even if there is none, there's the implied warranty) from the manufacturer is non-transferrable and thus, the warranty with any item sold as new is not valid, and therefore, the item is NOT new (even if it is brand new in package) and being sold as new, manufacturer can require the seller to prove that they are a legitimate authorized retailer.

Many brand rights owners are becoming more aggressive (thanks to China and Alibaba) about enforcing their rights even against small-time sellers due to the grey market (that is where the item is produced by a legit manufacturer, but not shipped from them through legit channels, or sold for a specific market, etc - for example, minor defects that simply do not meet Quality Control, or maybe production over-runs, or goods stolen off a truck, etc) , Black Market (prodcts actually being smuggled without paying duties, taxes, etc) and Knock-Off (counterfeited items made by a manufacturer that has no licensing agreement with the rights owner)

So basically if you listed them as "used, Like New" and you have receipts to prove *you* didnt steal them from somewhere, then First Sale Doctrine would apply and the manufacturer or rights owner would not have a leg to stand on..

Just want to be sure it IS a legit product as the manufacturer can still buy one from you and them if they are able to determine though an investigation that it was not part of an authorized production run, it would fall under trading in counterfeit goods - and even if you didn't get charged with a crime (say you can show where you purchased it from a yard sale or whatever, they can turn their attention to tracking down the source then, etc.) It can still be a serious hassle.

In fact it could be just the fact that you are using a copyrighted, trademarked brand name as part of your store name .

[smurfury]

Hi guys.
Just to let you know this is what i got back from ebid.

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your email.

Listing ID 150684809 eBid listing 5 X The smurfs smurf smurfette phon Sock Brand New & Sealed party bag fillers

We received a report of breach of third party intellectual property rights from monitoring@gevers.eu

Infringement on Intellectual Property.{ goods sold without authorization of our client}

We take the issue of Intellectual Property Rights very seriously. If you are unsure of the provenance of an item please do not post on eBid



Best Wishes
eBid Support Team



A bit disappointed with the reply as it did not answer if i should delist my other items or change my username

I will be so sad if i have to change my name i have been using it for years.

So worried now, what shall i do ?

Julie.

[Shesawaya38485]

It is very disheartening and worrisome when something like this happens as most people do not intend to break the law when reselling an item. I'm sure e-Bid passed on to you everything they were told so they couldn't answer if it was all your items or even your name, but it sounds like it was only the one item. If it was all of your items or your store name they probably would have reported everything.

You could always use that e-mail link and ask them exactly why it was reported. Let them know you intended no harm and don't want to break any laws so you need to know exactly what the problem was so it doesn't happen in the future. When I had the issue with the designer bag, I was able to find a phone number and talk to a live body. They were very nice and explained that the bag I listed was a knockoff and not one of their originals.

Just make sure all of your items are legit and not knockoffs and since they belong to you, you can re-sell them. I would not use the term "Brand New" in your listings to avoid having anyone think you are an "authorized merchant". You can always say "Mint in Package" or "Unused".

I see you also have some SpongeBob phone socks. Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom owns the rights to that and since it is packaged exactly like the Smurf socks, it is probably a good guess that they are knockoffs. I can't read the writing on the packaging in the pictures but that should tell you who/where they were manufactured. The patent owner's name should be on the socks themselves but even that is no guarantee that they are legit but it is usually missing on a cheap replica.

Hope this helped!! Hang in there