posted on September 1, 2001 12:20:03 AM
I know this has been discussed before, but I need some advice. While perusing some similiar auctions to mine, I discoved another user who had a pic of mine in their auction (it is a good one too - no wonder they stole it!!) What burns me is how they mention how ~honest~ they are several times in their listing. I have emailed them earlier today, asking them to remove it, and of course they haven't yet. My question is, can I email eBay about this? Any experience on how they treat it? Is it a "He said/She said" kind of deal? Or should I wait, in case they are gone for the holiday and did not get the email (did I just fall off the turnip truck or what?) Advice/ideas?
posted on September 1, 2001 03:19:56 AM
Yes, if it bothers you, write to ebay.
They will send the person a nice e-mail saying they have been accused of photo theft and to A) remove it if the accusation is true
B) Protest it (Ebay will look into it further) if the charge is false
....I must admit that I did this sort of thing once in awhile when I was a newbie
and didn't know any better. Of course,
now I have my own digital camera and scanner so its no longer a problem
If you really want to be safe, place a copyright symbol and your name somewhere on the photograph.
Make sure that it is in a place so that if the stealer crops it out that the photo could not be used.
Sure, they can use a photshop softward and blur it out or something, however, they may not want to go to that length.
If it is an original photograph, then you automatically have a copyright on it.
Let the person know that you can file suit against him/her for copyright infringment.
I had a similar experience, apparently in my case this Individual was so lazy and dumb, that not only did he "borrow" my image, he also linked to it directly.
Well, my auction was over so I decided to teach this person a lesson. I deleted the original photo and replaced it with one stating the following :HELLO, THE WINNING BIDDER WILL RECEIVE 2 FREE **** WIDGETS, THIS INCLUDES SHIPPING, ACT NOW !
Hmm, the next day 25 bids were cancelled and the auction ended early.
posted on September 1, 2001 11:46:21 AM
Thanks for the replys - I just figured out how to put my name in my pictures, so I will now do that on pics I feel are in danger of being stolen. This person is not a newbie, and from how their auctions are worded, I am pretty sure they use this site and board alot. Maybe they will read this...
posted on September 1, 2001 12:01:31 PM
I had this problem recently and mentioned it here. The person was even dumb enough to leave my seller ID right across the image. I contacted Ebay and informed them of the situation and that it could be positively identified as mine because my ID was on the picture quite prominently. I then emailed the thief through the ebay contact system and informed him that I had already alerted ebay to the theft of the picture.
I never received an reply email from the seller but the picture was gone within 2 hours. The auction ended about a day after that.
Meanwhile, three days later ebay finally gets back to me and informs me that I must contact the person who stole my picture and email them with ownership text which they attached to their email. If the seller did not comply I was supposed to get back to them. A lot of help they were. Three days after the auction ends they want me to do 2 days of emailing.
posted on September 1, 2001 03:07:20 PM
Originally, the seller who stole my image linked directly to my auction host. Then after eBay pulled their auction, they listed it again, this time loading the image as an IPIX. I asked eBay to pull once again and below is the explanation from 7/31/2001. Once I faxed the paper they requested, the auction was pulled next day.
* ~ * ~ *
Hello,
Thank you for your response.
The first auction you reported for using your picture was linking directly to the image on your web space. Under eBay policy, auctions containing unauthorized links to another member's web space will be removed.
In the case of copied images or text, our policy is to send the seller a warning to let them know that this is against eBay policy. If the owner of the image or text wishes to see the auction in question removed, they will need to file a legal Notice of Infringement.
We are providing you with a Notice of Infringement form and explanatory materials. Please read the material thoroughly and send the Notice back to us via fax (408) 558-7468.
For your convenience, you can download a copy of our notice of infringement form by clicking the following link
to view and print a copy of our Notice of Infringement). Please sign and send it back to us by fax at (408) 558-7468.
Remember, time is of the essence because auctions last for a limited duration. Once we have received your Notice of Infringement in proper form, we can end the referenced auction(s). Be sure to identify the
specific auctions by number; the user's screen name or user I.D. is not sufficient.
We look forward to receiving from you a completed VeRO Program Notice of Infringement and working with you in the future as an eBay Customer VeRO member.
Regards,
[eBay Communicaty Watch Team Member]
eBay Community Watch Team
posted on September 1, 2001 05:39:04 PM
Help is appreciated. I have spent several hrs trying to create the URL for my ebay auction. My website is www.madeinusaforyou.com and I would like to use a product photo (the thread & bobbin organizer with the young lady). Could someone go to the site and view the source and provide me with the URL. Also, how can I do a link to my site for other auctions that I have, or is that not suggested. How can I put my name on my pictures using W98, MS Photo Editor. Thanks very much,
posted on September 1, 2001 06:14:03 PM
> Could someone go to the site and view
> the source and provide me with the URL.
Your HTML on your site referrs to a file called org1.gif This file resides on your web site "madeinusaforyou.com" so you need to include what they refer to as the "absolute path" which is http://www.madeinusaforyou.com/org1.gif
The correct HTML is to include in your eBay auction is:
<img src="http://www.madeinusaforyou.com/org1.gif" alt="Photo of Our Thread & Bobbin Organizer" width="260" height="244">
> How can I put my name on my pictures
> using W98, MS Photo Editor.
If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, you can get the url for any picture on the internet (preferrably your own) by right clicking on the picture and choosing properties from the popup menu. Then you just copy and paste the url as needed.
