RMweb Gold Chris Chewter Posted October 26, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 26, 2011 I was searching through eBay when I noticed a listing that had a very similar photograph to a listing I recently ran. I concluded that no-one could have exactly the same shade of orange for their dining room table, and took a closer look. Lo and behold, my listing photo had been nicked. I thought that if he diddled someone, people could get him confused with me, and come after me. Don't want that. So I decided to let the eBay authorities know. Now I can't help wonder if I've over reacted, but I thought if I told him, he might tell me to bog off, so decided eBay should untangle the matter. In addition, I mentioned to eBay that if he had asked, then I might have let him use the photographs. In fact, I'm slightly pleased that another user thought the images were good enough to re-use, but cynically I know, he was probably too lazy to snap his own picture! The question is simple, what would you do? Would you tell eBay like I did, email the seller, or do nowt? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted October 26, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 26, 2011 Yep, if it is your photo then it is your copyright and must not be used without your permission. Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted October 26, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 26, 2011 I'd email the seller first, if they tell you to eff off I'd inform eBay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unchuffed Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I wouldn't give them the chance. I'd tell ebay first and then email the seller to tell them I'd told ebay and that they're a thieving *****(add you own epithet) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I would go straight to ebay and wouldnt bother contacting the seller, if they nick photos and pass them off as their own they wont be bothered about telling you to um go away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 40-something Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Happened to me a few years ago, I emailed the seller and politely asked them to remove the photos otherwise I would have to contact eBay, which they did with an apology. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YesTor Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Personally, I think it depends on the circumstances, for instance if you were an eBay business seller and a competitor had clearly used your images then yes, I would feel the same in requesting the photos be removed. However, when it is simply a one-off, personal sale then I would undoubtedly be a little more forgiving, after all, what serious harm can come from a photo of your dining room table appearing elsewhere? If one wished to be pedantic, one could ask if you had requested similar permission to use the caricature illustration featured as your avatar, as surely Ivor the Engine is subject to similar copyright rules? As they say, "What's good for the goose..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I think I would inform eBay. Not because of the copyright issue, but because this person is not using a photo of the goods he is selling. It may very well be the goods are an exact match for the ones you sold, but maybe they are not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted October 27, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2011 ive had it happen too, 1st time i contacted the seller who took them off, next time i simply reported it to ebay who removed the item Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerr Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I'd email the seller first, if they tell you to eff off I'd inform eBay Please don't do this, I help with some eBay UK auctions and this just causes further issues To report such an abuse, simply report to eBay UK Ideally link to your previous auction which included the photo Include details of the date and time the original photo was taken, and if possible its filename Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted October 27, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 27, 2011 Personally, I think it depends on the circumstances... I'm afraid I have to disagree. This type of plagiarism is becoming increasingly commonplace. Copyright should be assumed to exist in every image unless there is clear evidence otherwise. Whether you shoot on 10 x 8 plates or a mobile phone, you own the copyright of every image you create. If anyone wants to use an image they should ask, plain and simple. To be fair, your point about avatars has some merit, although you might be surprised at what large organisations will allow. Many years ago I was involved in a school transport campaign that spoofed the X Files as it was very big at the time. We approached the US production company and told them exactly what we planned to do and received permission with no strings. However, more recently a national transport awards scheme that I'm involved with received a solicitor's letter from the US because we had used the word "Oscars" in a description of our awards. It's widely done in the media, so that particular solicitor must be very busy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted October 27, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 27, 2011 Never had this done with photos but I have had my item descriptions taken word for word (including the spelling mistakes). In this case I didn't do anything as I had sold all of the items in question and didn't expect to get any more to sell (I was right, 4 years later I've not sold any more of them) so I worked out that this was not going to cause a problem for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 There used to be a listing option 'Sell similar item,' which enabled a seller to use another person's item image. I've not sold anything on the Bay for a while now, so can't say whether this has been altered, but it certainly used to be there. I think eBay used the swerve that once submitted to their site, a condition of an image's use was that they assumed ownership of the image, but I could be wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Hi I wouldn't worry about the copyright situation of a snap on an Ebay listing (I have had photos I have shot used in magazines without permission / with permission but without being sent a copy of the magazine as agreed). However if someone is selling something on Ebay then I would expect to see photos of what they are actually selling. Using a different photo just scream a dubious seller at best (or just a plain fraudulent listing). All the best Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sheep Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I've sent the seller an invoice stating that I work as a photographer and make my living from it. 50p later and I'm happy the one time I've had an issue with it was when I worked at a model shop, someone had used a watermarked image from the shop's online store (we didn't use ebay) the worry was a dodgey item resulting in us being chased Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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