I'm getting bootlegged on Ebay
 

Some asshole in the UK has decided to make a living on bootlegging a DVD series I produced a while back. He lists them continuously on Ebay, from time to time I go on and report them, and Ebay sometimes pulls them, but continues to let him repost them. I can track how many he has sold through his profile, and it is a lot. I'm starting to get pissed off at Ebay more than him, since he's made a couple grand off my work and they've let him do it.

Any suggestions?

Hey Dylan, while I know the more satisfying approach would be to handle this with a baseball bat, maybe it is time for legal action? Him being across the Pond definitely makes it more difficult to go after him personally, but not impossible. If you're serious enough to take the financial risk and effort involved, you can not only go after the particular offender (civil, criminal, and getting his ISP to shut him off), but e-bay. Suing e-bay for a couple thousand dollars might not ruffle their feathers much, but getting the suit done as a well-publicized class action would definitely get their attention.

If you go with the baseball bat approach, though, I'm not sure the airlines will let you carry it onboard, so maybe need to take enough cash to buy a cricket bat instead.

Hi,

Why not just flame all his auctions i.e. put in sky high bids then don't pay. If E-Bay hassle you, point out that you are doing it to protect your losses, something they are not!

I'm in the UK, anything I can help with?

I like Alastair's idea. Play his game and beat him at it.

I hate to highlight the irony, but didn't you write this?
http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/buyersguide/ebay.php

Bold, Ben. Very bold. ;)

try contacting the UK anti -piracy organisation fact http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/ they may be able to help

Ben,

No irony there... the topics are only marginally related.

Sorry to hear about it Dylan... The upside is that people like your work :). If he's making money on it, you should be making more...

Dylan,

I have a private phone number to ebay. If you like I can give it to you or call on your behalf. Otherwise, putting an exceptionally high bid on all auctions is a neat idea, but may not last for long.

It would be better to call then.

Mike

How did you copywrite the dvd in the US? Did you officially file or just claim copywrite? One thing that people sometimes miss is that inorder to take legal action, you need to have filed, it does not mean that your works are not copywrited, it just means that you cannot take legal action.

Have you filed for copywrite in the UK?

responding to one illegal action with another is usually not a good idea.

Sharyn

You can use Bid-o-Matic and other automatic bidding programs to automatically place a bid at the last minute.

This may not be illegal, since it doesn't seem to go against any written law (*I have not read your country's laws). And hopefully eBay will take your side.
**Paypal has a shady TOS and shady business practices when it comes to disputes. So protect your money, and use a credit card to fund purchases (because credit cards let you make chargebacks).

Your best approach is to just keep reporting the problem to ebay. If you bid at the last minute, and then don't pay, the seller can leave you negative feedback and Ebay is not going to help you in the least.

Ebay generally does not have a way to monitor all this stuff, so you need to let them know,BUT IF IT keeps happening you might be able to get them to suspend the persons account.

Cross border disputes like this are really hard to deal with, you have the burden of proof, you need to take action in that persons country, etc, you are looking at a lot of expense. Keep in mind that in the UK most lawyers do not work on a percentage of the winnings, so it usually is not practical.


Sharyn

Dylan,

I can't speak to the laws in Canada and the UK, but in the U.S. IF you have registered the copyright BEFORE the infringement takes place, you will be awarded attorney's fees in addition to damages. This makes it much easier to get an attorney on contingency... having it already registered.

IF it is not registered, then go to a 'lawyers for the arts' program, every major city has one... and see if they can dig up an attorney pro-bono.

Get the attorney to write to this guy, AND ebay. You'll have more response from an attorney's letter to ebay, than your own.

Get an attorney either way.

I have spent years doing business re IP in US and UK. The problem is that the person is in the UK so having action taken against them in the US is useless.
At the same time unless your property is of high value or the volume is high value, the Attny's will have little or no interest. Ebay only responds to Court orders in most cases. If you contact Ebay and you keep pointing out the problem as I said they will possibly close the account. The problem you have is proving the situation. You need to prove it is your IP, and you need to prove that this person is using it illegally.

A lot of people will give you encouraging advice, but from years of experience unless there is a lot of money involved or you are willing to pay it is difficult to really do much about it.

Sharyn

EBAY can be shut down for knowingly allowing infringement of copywritten material. This is part of the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act).

KNOWINGLY is the operative word. IS the product registered. HAS proof been provided to Ebay?

Back to "Get a lawyer" Dylan. At the very least, go see a Lawyers for the Arts foundation to get an assesment of your situation from an IP attorney. That's what they do. (I know, my wife is an IP attorney, and she used to volunteer for an Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts Council.... long ago.)

Eveything on this board is just 'friendly advice' and should not be construed as legal council. It is, quite literally, worth what you pay for it.

Start selling the thing yourself, undercut his prices, include a disclaimer on your ebay site NOT to buy from the ILLEGAL seller.

Gimme his link, I love toying with these jokers.

Dylan is from his listing in Canada, so it there even this pro bono arts council?
I agree advice is worth what you pay for it, and professional advice makes sense. The US tends to have attorneys that are much more willing to work this way. The DMCA is for the USA, it gets very complex if the IP is from Canada, the Seller is from the UK, and is it Ebay's UK operation and site, or is it Ebay's US site etc ??

Be prepared to have all your facts and be able to prove them.

Sharyn

How much energy do you want to put into resolving the situation? You need to make it not worth his while to continue. This is what I would do. First, I would find some way of creating mutiple Ebay accounts, maybe three or four. Next, I would bid on his item just normally, making sure I won the item, and then paid for it, and recieved it from him. I would ask him to ship the item registered mail, because I'm worried the item will be lost in the mail.
Once I recieved the DVD, I'd use my other E-bay accounts to immediately start high biding any and all of his auctions. If he's selling other stuff on E-bay, win the bids on those too. Thing is, once you win the bid, you'll be able to leave feedback. Don't pay him, and just leave really crappy feedback (TOOK MY MONEY, REFUSED TO DELIVER ITEM, COMPLETE FRAUD, DO NOT BID; ITEM PAID FOR THROUGH PAY PAL, HE SAYS HE DIDN'T RECIEVE PAYMENT). Three or four reviews like that, and his e-bay sales will come to a complete halt. Now, back to the DVD you bought.
First, call legal aid and ask them where you stand as for copyright law. Its free to call legal aid, and they'll let you consult with three different lawyers for free.
Next, depending on the info you get from legal aid, spend a couple of hundred bucks to have a lawyer, (using one close to him would be better), to draft up a letter that says you have recieved a DVD from him, registered mail, that clearly shows he is breaking the law. There is probably some sort of criminal offence he has committed by using the mail for fraudulent purposes. If thats the case, let him know that in the letter too. Tell him he is to cease and desist from selling your DVD, that you are seeking x amount of thousands of dollars in damages, and that refusal to pay these will result in a court date and criminal investigation.
Make sure all your communcation from him uses your company name. I'm sure a letter from a lawyer saying they represent such and such company that is now seeking damages will be more than enough to make this jerk wet his pants.
Finally, pursue the option of reporting the crime. You've got all the info, someone out there should care. Make an international incident out of it.
Anyways, that's what I would do.

Yeah..... I was wondering who would be the first to post that... :D

I've taken some guerilla measures to shut this down, but I'd really just like to sue Ebay for millions of dollars. It's ridiculous that they are letting it happen despite numerous complaints.

Dylan
Did you REGISTER the copyright on the film? Yes, I know its copywritten the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium, but REGISTRATION gives you certain advantages, both legally and financially.

As a side note, a few days ago I spoted a piece of my documentary that someone had spliced into their YouTube movie. I sent him a little email saying "It's customary to request permission from a copywrite holder before using their footage." I sent the email at nine PM, and went to bed.

I got up at six AM, and there were FOUR messages from the guy, at different times during the night, saying he didn't know it was against the law, please please PLEASE don't sue me... I just took it down... PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.

The jerk didn't sleep a wink.

I sent him an email and said.

"Don't do it again."


OF course, this was a small time infringement, with no monetary gain on his part... so it's not the same as Dylan's pain... but it is important to act on this stuff.