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(Note to Moderators, If this post is not appropriate please fell free to remove
it.)
Dear TLG,
I note the following EBAY auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEGO-PLANS-AND-DESIGNS-ON-3-DVD-ROM-AUTORUN-DISCS_W0QQitemZ200185829178QQihZ010QQcategoryZ70100QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The seller claims: "THIS DISC IS NOT AN UNAUTHORISED COPY.THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
CONTENT IS EITHER, OWNED BY THE SELLER, OR HAS BEEN FULLY AUTHORISED FOR
USE/REPRODUCTION/SALE BY THE COPYRIGHT OWNER, OR IT IS FREELY AVAILABLE IN THE
PUBLIC DOMAIN. THE SALE OF THIS ITEM BY SELLER DOES NOT COMMIT ANY BREACH OF
COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP OR COPY REGULATIONS, IT THEREFORE COMPLIES FULLY WITH ALL OF
EBAY'S RULES AND REGULATIONS"
The problem is that as far as I can tell the seller has misunderstood both
copyrights and Ebay's rules as they apply to Lego(R) instructions.
Copyright as I understood it persisted in any fixed work (in the EU) for the
lifetime of the authour + 70 years, where the work was joint, it is the death
of the last contributor that is important. In the US similar rules apply apart
from a 95 year term from creation where the fixed content is work-for hire on
behalf of a corporation (for example The Lego Group)
Given the length of the above terms it is highly unlikely that Lego instructions
would have yet entered the public domain,(the only websites
I knew of that were hosting old instructions having made specific arrangements
with the Lego Group directly.)
Furthermore my understanding was that copyright does not transfer to the
purchaser of the instructions,meaning the only content the seller could
distribute under his own copyrights are plans for his own creations. I doubt
that anyone has a DVD's worth of their own instructions, but am willing to be
proved wrong.
As Lego orignated material is not public domain, and would clearly not be the
copyright of the seller, Perhaps someone in Lego Direct would be willing to
confirm or deny if copyright authorisation was given in respect of the auction
concerned, or contact Ebay directly to ensure the seller does indeed have the
appropriate paperwork to make the auction concerned legal?
Sadly in finding the specfic auction above, I also found a few others :(
Thanks for listening.
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Ebay auction... (suspect?)
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| In lugnet.lego.direct, Alexander Farlie wrote: ***big snip*** (...) On the plus side, the auction ended without a bid. I only glanced at it, so I don't know if it was terminated by the eBay powers-that-be, or if it truly lapsed without interest. (...) (16 years ago, 24-Dec-07, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
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