Controversial! +13 YES, I know it's been said before!

[chailey]

To say I'm annoyed would be an understatement, I'm b****y furious, as a UK resident I have rarely felt the need to look on the USA eBay site, however I have just had a quick look and it's wall-to-wall with 'Pirated' Pegaso and Andrea 90mm kits, all cast in resin by some joker in Thailand!
Do copyright laws not exist in the U.S. or does eBay just choose to ignore them?
I recently paid a hefty sum (in my opinion) for a genuine Pegaso kit and I find it quite galling that others think it's perfectly okay for other modellers to subsidise their hobby by buying from such dubious sources, if people weren't buying then the likes of Mr Thailand wouldn't be blatantly copying others work and then perhaps the makers of these fantastic kits could afford to lower the prices for the people that really care about the hobby....and yes, I have reported the matter to eBay! (Rant over).

Steve

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Steve
at the Edinburgh scale model show there was a polish re-caster with a stall all set out showing his pirated goods ,.
my youngest so used to work for edinburgh city council as a trading standards officer but now lives in New York thats a pity as I would have him lined up for next years show

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

To be fair it was the organisers first show and not entirely a figure show so they were really unaware .
I have seen some blatant rip off's at other shows also.

 

[chailey]

I don't attend many shows so I cant comment on how well they are policed to prevent this happening, but surely the problem lies with those that knowingly buy from these traders, am I being naïve to believe that the vast majority of modellers, be it figures, armour or whatever find the plagiarism of others work distasteful , but somebody must be buying the kits or these traders would simply crawl back from whence they came and find some other way to make an easy living.
Perhaps Mick, it's the modellers of this world that need 'arse kicking' for allowing a few to spoil it for the many?

 

[polyphemus]

I think many of those who buy cheap recasts believe those of us who pay the standard price to be mugs. They seem to believe that somehow they are defeating the "hustlers" - the manufacturers. I've even been accused, many years ago, of encouraging the manufacturers to charge "high" prices because I was prepared to pay their prices.

Geoff

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

It has all been said before indeed ,but in general most figures are reasonably priced and it only really gets a bit pricey when you hit the 90mm mounted stuff or if you wish to buy the Andrea submarine but thats a different story

 

[Blind Pew]

It doesn't matter that it's been said before.
Sadly this still needs saying again & again and probably always will.

This is a message always worth a repeat, so good on you mate.

 

[yellowcat]

Recasters are from everywhere. To stop them from selling on ebay the manufactures have to use the ebay VeRO program to stop them. To this day I don't see any manufactures are doing that. That's why you are still seeing all the latest recasting from Russia, Hungary, Poland, Argentina, Italy, Thailand, China, UK, USA ...............

I just could not believe it, Pirate Furry from Nuts Planet has already been recasted.


The ebay VeRO program:

http://pages.ebay.com/vero/intro/?rmvSB=true

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/programs-vero-ov.html

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/vero-rights-owner.html

The 2-page NOCI form for faxing initial registration - http://pics.ebay.com/aw/pics/ca/pdf/hel ... NOI-CA.pdf


Reason code should be - Copyright – item infringement
Code 3.2. Item(s) infringes copyrights (for example, a bootleg recording of a live performance, a
pirated copy of media such as software or movies, or an unlawful copy of copyrighted works such as
text, paintings, or sculptures).
Works infringed "This is an unauthorized copy of an original sculpture, intentionally violating the
sculptor's rights". Providing the URL of your website where the items pictures can be found will also help.
Item number(s) — if registering in advance, explain "Not Applicable — VeRO registration on|y",
otherwise, specify the numbers of the listings you are asking to he removed.

Who can use the eBay VeRO system?

Anyone who has claims against a "property".

. TYPE A

Companies (like Universal, Fox) as license owners of characters (Predator, Frankenstein, Godzilla etc.)

. TYPE B

Sculptors as creators of original sculpts, if unauthorized copies are made, and they have NOT sold on the sculpt. This is true even if the characters are owned by "TYPE A"

. TYPE C

Kit Producers as purchasers of original sculpts with the rights to produce copies.

It can be done by the claimant OR someone they authorize to act on their behalf.

“TYPE A" owners can also VeRO listings created by “TYPE B" and “TYPE C“ sellers if they consider them unlicensed.

 

[hypertex]

Do copyright laws not exist in the U.S. or does eBay just choose to ignore them?
Steve

I'm guessing that e-Bay isn't legally required (under US law) to police copyright of every single item listed. Just like Youtube isn't required to police every video posted for copyright infringement.

Also keep in mind that it is difficult if not impossible to have US or European laws enforced in many countries, such as Thailand. It's unfortunate but true. While the legit manufacturers can pester ebay (VeRO program) to get them off of the site, it is well nigh impossible to get some foreign countries to honor a US court order.

I guess our best weapon against piracy is education, so keep saying it even if it's been said before!