Ebay Copyright Violation Question

jackoscratch · #1 02-13-2014

Greetings,

I am currently on eBay ranked as a power-seller and am in good standing with an above average feedback rating. I sell old horror comics and magazines, dvds, books, and photographs, mostly old horror hollywood stuff. I purchased a huge collection of 8x10 photos from a flea market dealer who was going out of business and have been listing them on ebay for a year or so now. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for certain whether all the photos are in compliance with copyright restrictions or not. I know they are reproductions. They date from the early 20th century to now, with the vast majority being publicity photos of old hollywood actors and horror start and movie stills. Lots of old TV stuff as well. There are also a number of modern photos of current celebrities, as well as general photos of nature and other interesting things. They have been selling well and I have been adding more each month.

About six months ago I received some emails from two different people claiming to represent the estates of deceased celebrities claiming that I was in violation of their copyrights. I took them down and emailed asking if they would be willing to grant me permission to sell them. I explained that I only had a few photos of each celebrity in question and had no way to know for certain they they weren't photos that had been legally purchased at trade shows or conventions. Neither party returned my emails. I also received a copyright violation notice from ebay stating that a couple of my photos were deleted at the request of their copyright owner and was told to contact them directly. I did but again, I never got a reply. I did not re-list either of the photos that were deleted. I have also spent countless hours at the company's web site looking at the collection of the images to see if any of the other thousands of photos I had were listed and have deleted every one I could find. There weren't that many, but I deleted all the ones that matched.

For a few months, everything was normal. Then I received a second policy violation from ebay who deleted a photo at the request of a deceased celebrity's estate. A week or so later, I received a third violation email regarding the photo of a current celeb. Both photos were not re-listed, but I did not email the owners given my previous experiences. Now things are going alone fine again. But I am concerned.

I am on disability for heart problems and am trying to build up a business so I can get off SS. I work very hard at this (as hard as I am able given my health issues). But I am worried about being suspended. The photos I am selling are also being sold by many other ebay sellers, some who have been on ebay for 10 or more years and have feedbacks in the hundreds of thousands as well as 10k or more listings each month. If they haven't been suspended, how much do I need to worry? I was planing on contacting ebay the next time I requested a limit increase to tell them that (1) I am not knowingly selling any copyrighted photos, (2) that I try to research as much as possible to avoid future violations, and (3) that I have never re-listed anything that has been deleted for said violation. I am wondering now whether that might make any difference because I am bound to get mopper of these violation notices over time.

I was once suspended a year ago for 30 days by ebay for inadvertently listing some adult comic books in the comic section and not the adult section. I explained to them that the reason I listed them there was because that was the category other sellers were listing the exact same books in. They never responded to my explanation and I had to sit out a month before resuming. This is why I fear getting the axe with no recourse for appeal.

NOTE that I was also on amazon.com a few years ago selling mostly DVDs and books. I had a heart attack one day and ended up in the hospital for three weeks recovering from a quadruple by-pass. I didn't log in for two months but when I did, I had some amazon sales that were canceled and my amazon account was suspended. I went through the appeal process, offering to prove to them that I had a medical emergency and that is why the orders were not filled. They returned my email with one stating that I was suspend for life and they will not answer any further emails from me. Two years later I emailed the CEO of amazon and again explained my situation. He forwarded the email to one of his CS reps who told me the suspension stands and that is it.

What is wrong with these people? Here I am trying to get back on my feet after a serious illness and trying to get off govt. assistance and they give do this. Why are they such hard asses? I fear ebay might be the same way after reading some of the comments here. Any advise would be appreciated.

markflood · #2 02-14-2014

My advise would be ebay doesn't care if your a 1 dollar business or 1 million business they all get treat equal,
I got flu one week and couldnt get out bed for 1 week. so I understand...
But I notice with the copyright issue, is your feedback is high like powerseller, and you get one or two or I say 3 max in a year you should be okay. If you get one never sell that item again and if you get one try not get one again for months. But if your account is new, you get one that the last warning, then second account ban for 7 or 30 days or permanent.

Dmshark25 · #3 02-14-2014

If they already suspended u for 30days and u been getting takedowns, unfortunately u are headed in the direction of permanent selling restriction and this could happen any day, so take action now do not wait until the hammer drops because if u rely on that income it will hurt

Learn stealth and start making as many accountsth as you can, it's better to have 100 accounts and sell 1 item a month than one account that sells 100 items a month, just an example but the key here especially with ur copyright protected items is to spread sales thin so u look like someone that has just a few pictures and not doing this as a business, when u sell lots of items and bring in high sales on one account u draw attention from eBay , your competition , anyone , and there are many jealous people with nothing better to do than ruin ur business.

If u haven't started learn stealth and build accounts everyday and start aging them prepping them to be sellers because u may be on borrowed. Time unfortunately

jackoscratch · #4 02-14-2014

Thanks for the feedback. I had a 30 day suspension over a year ago but it was for an entirely different reason. I inadvertently listed some 'adult-oriented' comics in the comic section and not in the adult section. They deleted the first two with a warning and then deleted the last one a few hours later and gave me a suspension. I did not get the warning before the suspension was given.

I explained to them when I called that the only reason I listed the comics in the comic section, besides the fact that they were comics, was because that is where all the identical comics were listed by other sellers. Since there wasn't even any nudity, I didn't think they would be objectionable.

I tried to appeal but didn't get any replies to my queries. When I called again, I was told the decision was final and to just wait it out. One reason that I am worried about the current violation alerts is because from my experience and the experiences of some of the posters here, I get the impression that appealing anything is a complete waste of time.

My experience with amazon three years ago was even worse. They would even listen to my reason and have ignored every one of my attempts to contact them. Pay Pal is just as bad. Several years ago I was working on adult websites for so0me models I know. Pay Pal at the time had a strict policy against any adult related transactions. I was trying to sell some of my domains and received a 12k payment through ebay from a guy in Israel. Pay Pal immediately froze the account and demanded an explanation. I told them I was selling some domains. When they found out the domains had adult oriented syntax, they said I violated their policy. They eventually returned the money to the buyer but that account is still frozen and suspended. ****ing nazis.

What is it with these companies anyway? It seems to me that in the interest of fairness they should at LEASE consider legitimate excuses for perceived wrongdoing.

Anyway, I have sent an email to ebay trust and safety people explaining my concerns and asking for their assistance. I figure it is best to be on record as attempting to deal with the issue and maybe I can get some information about where I currently stand. I am inn the process of moving most of my current listings to my domain and starting my own online store and have requested that they work with me regarding any future issues with this.

I was disheartened to see that none of the three complaints were apparently VERO Participants (at least they had no about me pages). Ebay states that only VERO participants can request task downs. In my email to ebay I asked them how am I supposed to know there is a copyright issue if there is no way to know what is copyrighted and what is public domain. In light of this, it seems unfair to suspend a seller for information that he couldn't possibly have known.

The most frustrating part of all this is that there are sellers on ebay who are offering the exact same items I am and they have like 50k listing, 100% positive feedback and have been on ebay forever.

jackoscratch · #5 02-14-2014

Regarding the stealth suggestions, how exactly does this work. I am reluctant because I don't have multiple bank accounts, addresses, phone numbers, or different identities I can use for this. It seems like a huge pain in the ass. Moreover, ebay has strict limits on new sellers and pay pal holds funds for 10 days before making them available. I thought of doing this with amazon. Is the amazon program the same as the ebay program?