posted on July 19, 2004 06:48:40 PM new
I have sold several craft books to a buyer, and tonight I noticed that they are copying the pictures, and auctioning the pictures and instructions via email. I am wondering if this is allowed. Those of us who search out the books and list them, can't sell if someone is offering the same thing via email with no postage cost etc. There are several similar auctions 8118211059 The books are from the 60's and 70's, so I guess there is no copyright. What do you all think?
posted on July 19, 2004 07:24:24 PM new
The fact that they are from the 60s and 70s (1960/1970 I assume) does not mean they are not still under copyright. Are the publishers of these craft books still in business? If so you might drop them a line and point out the auctions.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on July 19, 2004 07:37:17 PM new
Amber
There are several online businesses that do this for a living.
Many old knitting and crochet patterns can be had this way. I have long hair and wanted to try to crochet a snood (that lasted 5 minutes) and found a number of sites that do this.
The patterns range from very old to very recent.
Same with instruction manuals for cameras. People copy them and sell them. Just try to find a Rolleiflex with it's original manual, I bought a more recent minolta manual (circa '70's) for a friend.
I don't know about copyright. But it's low on the threshold.
Now go burn an Olsen's Twins movie to DVD and watch your grief factor go up!
posted on July 20, 2004 04:51:50 AM new
Amber -- I used to let this get to me because I would be selling the same thing only originals. As you can see, she has absolutely no bids and is unlikely to get any. Why pay that kind of money only to have to print it out on your printer using your ink and paper? Not to mention that not everyone has a color printer. Yes, it is against the copyrighted laws. If it states on the pattern book "copyrighted such and such date" it is a copyrighted material. Virtually all materials are copyrighted -- whether they be recorded materials such as dvds, vhs, cds, etc., or printed materials such as books, magazines, etc.
Another thing is that I have had a number of customers write to me telling me that they much prefer to do business with me because I sell only originals. They feel cheated when they bid on something and are sent a photocopy.
So there you have it. Stick to your guns and sell only originals. Don't bother reporting them because ebay does nothing about it. Might as well save your time and aggravation.
posted on July 20, 2004 05:06:21 AM new
Thanks Diane, I hope you are right. I had one of the books she is offering by email, closing last night, it usually sells for a good price. It had over 250 hits, 14 watches and closed with no bids, but I think she has sold 3 of her email copies because she has 97 offered, and most started at 100. I think the "no postage" will attract a lot of people.
The thing that concerns me about this paricular method of selling is that she can send her buyer the email copy, and they in turn can send it to as many people as they want to sell iot to. These are hard-to-find older magazines.
I have no intention of selling copies, I get a lot of request from losing bidders, but I don't do copies, it doesn't seem fair.
posted on July 20, 2004 08:27:48 AM new
Make no mistake, this is a blatant violation of copyright law. It makes no difference whether the book is from 1960 or 2003. It's the same violation as selling photocopies of the material.
How to stop it? I'm not sure, but you might try notifying ebay first. You could also contact the seller and tell them they are violating the law. It might not stop them, but who knows?
posted on July 20, 2004 08:30:42 AM new
pelorus-Thanks, I have notified eBay. Had a hard time finding the right heading to send it under, ended up with listing violations, and they don't allow you to explain, just put in the offending auction numbers, hopefully they will do something.
posted on July 20, 2004 03:34:18 PM new
Yeah its allowed and done quite a bit for various paper items.
Number one reason being the copyright owner / holder would have to file the complaint with eBay.
Also what do we know? perhaps the seller has permission from the CR holder to copy and sell this material.
Much of the stuff because of age 40 years I think may have passed into eminent domain and has become public property. Lastly the owners of the material may not give a big whoopie either way.
posted on July 20, 2004 06:14:52 PM new
Good luck with ebay on that one. For a couple of years now, there have been a couple of low lifes that copy pages out of Mitchells Crash Books, and sell them as parts lists for nearly every model car on the road. This is blatent copyright infringement and ebay does nothing when told of it. I even contacted Mitchells direct and they cannot even get Ebay to pull them. This seller is a classic one.
automotive-literature
