Subject:
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Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:22:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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635 times
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Out of curiousity, a couple times a month I search Ebay, looking for people
selling LEGO creations of mine. Sadly, I often come across one or two a month.
These people either claim it as their own, or make no mention that they copied
the instructions from my website. If I wanted to, I could make them and sell
them to make money. That’s not the point, it’s the principle of the thing...
copying someone else’s work and representing it as their own. This month, a
particularly irritating one came up on Ebay. Some one is selling the Globe I
created instructions for:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=40018
As you can see from the folder, many people have used my instructions to create
a Globe of their own. That’s why I did all that work in the first place. I
could’ve just created mine and no more but I did a LOT of work and created
instructions. I did this to make my own contribution to the AFOL community.
Here’s the irritating auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1186&item=5963673227
Please compare this person’s pictures to the pictures in my Globe folder. Do
you see any similarities? To my eyes, it is an exact duplicate. I emailed the
seller and got this response: “First of all, your methodology for assuming it
is your work seems a bit hasty. For instance, many different DVD players are on
the market, but they weren’t all designed by the same person.” Later, he says,
“If you have evidence that my work is yours and you can proove some type of
copyright infringement, have your lawyer serve papers to that effect. You will
also incur any of my legal fees if your case is lost.” Things go downhill from
there. I had emailed the seller to ask that he add information to the auction,
that it was my creation and to post my website. I have got nothing but rude
emails and long explanations about how it is a coincidence that his globe looks
like mine. The most irritating thing about this, is that this isn’t just a
nobody copying my work, as is usually the case, this is a fellow AFOL. He is
“tiltawhirl”. I won’t mention his real name. Here’s his MOC page and
Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/231
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=Bolliger
I have people copying my work quite regularly, but to have a fellow AFOL do it,
and then to get an email with a ‘prove it!’ ‘it’s a coincidence that it looks
the same!’ and other rude comments like “Wrap your head around that!”... ugh. I
am just disappointed and disgusted to get that kind of treatment from someone in
the AFOL community. I have sent private emails to this person with no
resolution, so I wanted to turn to the community to get some advice. What
should AFOL’s do when their work is being blatantly copied and sold? Sitting
back and doing nothing doesn’t seem to be the answer.
Corey Sanders
www.brickitgood.com
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Message has 9 Replies:
 | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| SNIP... (...) Chalk it up as your own personal experience and put it away for a lesson learned. You'll end up with clearer head, more friends than enemies, and experience for future situations. What if LEGO would have done the same thing without (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| Well, IANAL, but I would think that by putting the step-by-step directions on a public website you're encouraging people to build a globe of their own. (Great model, btw - I might have to build one!) But, I also think that the seller should give you (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| If you ask a seller a question, are they required to post it (in the "questions" area at the bottom)? If so, we could bombard the auction with, "Can't you just go to brickshelf and download the instructions?" -type questions. Of course that won't (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| "meenkee" <meenkee@cox.net> wrote in message news:IDrn12.21Fs@lugnet.com... (...) people (...) month. (...) copied (...) sell (...) thing... (...) a (...) Globe I (...) create (...) I (...) community. (...) (URL) (...) Do (...) emailed the (...) (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| (...) Well, even if they copied your instructions verbatim it doesn't seem they've done anything illegal, since there was no restriction on use of your instructions. If they did indeed copy it and are using your work to profit (with their own (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
| | | Re: Selling someone else's work on Ebay
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| (...) Let me clarify a few things here. #1 I have more than 20 years experience with brick. Why did you assume that your creation had been copied? You didn't even ask if it might be similar in design. YOU, sir, started with the rudeness as evidenced (...) (20 years ago, 22-Mar-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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