Report sellers who infringe copyrights!

Posts: 1736 · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 6:35 am

Cheeky git!!

This is also really common on a more minor scale - the MERP maps are really great - and were designed to be removed for play. Obviously, the modules don't sell for anywhere near as much if the maps are missing - so many sellers have taken to offering a CD with a map scan alongside (or even the whole item).

On the one hand it is still copyright infringement, on the other, maybe not the crime of the century.

Posts: 1002 · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 6:33 pm

Sotterraneo wrote:

beasterbrook wrote:

anyone know wjo owns the MERP copyright now??

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3172655732&category =44111

The rights for the paper RPG are in Decipher's hands, but the ultimate possession of Tolkien rights is in the hand of Tolkien Enterprises I suppose.

well some one yanked it, no longer exists...

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 2:49 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3173366606&category =2544

Can someone report this? I e-mailed the seller a warning.

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:08 pm

Thank you for your assistance, but the copyright on the version that I am offering is more than 20 years old. They are no longer in effect after twenty years.

This is the reply I got when I e-mailed the abovementioned seller and informed her that it is copyright infringement.
Can someone walk me thru the reporting process? I've tried several times, but I can't seem to do it.

Posts: 667 · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:59 pm

This seller is wrong. This is not a patent. Let's clear up the copyright laws that exist:

HOW LONG COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ENDURES

Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date

These works have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works will generally be computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: the life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms will apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case will the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047.

Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978

Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, or for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years. Public Law 105-298, enacted on October 27, 1998, further extended the renewal term of copyrights still subsisting on that date by an additional 20 years, providing for a renewal term of 67 years and a total term of protection of 95 years.

Public Law 102-307, enacted on June 26, 1992, amended the 1976 Copyright Act to provide for automatic renewal of the term of copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977. Although the renewal term is automatically provided, the Copyright Office does not issue a renewal certificate for these works unless a renewal application and fee are received and registered in the Copyright Office.

Public Law 102-307 makes renewal registration optional. Thus, filing for renewal registration is no longer required in order to extend the original 28-year copyright term to the full 95 years. However, some benefits accrue from making a renewal registration during the 28th year of the original term.

As you can see from this information, at the very least it is covered for 28 years plus an additional 67 years after the first 28 years have passed!

If you are interested in more information this was duplicated from the following government site:

http://www.copyright.gov/

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 9:48 am

So how do I report her?

Posts: 667 · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 1:46 pm

Maybe it would be enough to send her the info posted here... You could also send the copyright violation to ebay.

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 3:29 pm

Too late, she ended the auction to sell to highest bidder. I have decided to reenact my old method of dealing with copyright violators....
THE SHILL ACCOUNT!!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Posts: 840 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:12 am

Reported:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174010746&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174011238&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174012204&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174012684&catego ry=44112

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 4:17 pm

Shilled.

Posts: 1573 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 5:11 pm

Okay, I am looking for some opinions. Sometimes I sell items without the map booklet - like Temple of Elemental Evil or Scourge of the Slavelords. Of course, I am always very clear that it is not included (even though I could easily make a copy).

So, what I am wondering is: do you think it would be okay if I offered a copy of the maps to the winning bidder AFTER the auction - as an added gift. Obviously, I would be honor bound not to mention this until after the auction ended and I received payment. That way the inclusion of the map copies wouldn't affect the final biding.

I am just trying to be helpful on this - not to make any extra profit.

I'd appreciate any feedback.

Posts: 297 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:31 pm

Nah... Don't dirty yourself or trouble yourself... Fact is, almost every 'common' module can be downloaded in about 1/2 an hour of Kazaa or other file shares... or even purchased from RPGNOW.

If they want the maps, there are other ways, some of them even legitimate so don't do it.

In fact, you could see if RPGNOW has your modules as files (I think there are other sites that do this legitimately too but I can only remember RPGNOW). If they have your files, send the buyer the links so they can download the registered PDF and get the maps in really nice quality.

If you start promising the maps, it could come back to bite you, not that I think what you would be doing is particularly wrong.. just 'grey'.

-Jon

Posts: 162 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:24 pm

So, what I am wondering is: do you think it would be okay if I offered a copy of the maps to the winning bidder AFTER the auction - as an added gift. Obviously, I would be honor bound not to mention this until after the auction ended and I received payment. That way the inclusion of the map copies wouldn't affect the final biding.

I am just trying to be helpful on this - not to make any extra profit.

These guys who copy entire modules in pdf and sell them 20 at a time on a disc are blatantly stealing. When you sell an incomplete original item you, in essence, are selling the copyright of that material to the buyer. You're also selling an item that is incomplete and therefore not as valuable.

As long as you're selling an item that is original but is now incomplete, I see no problem with offering to send along photocopies of the missing pages or maps free of charge.

I often include this as a free option in the auction description of items I sell at buyers request. Keep in mind these items were once paid for and the manufacturer has already profited from the sale of the item you are now reselling. By offering to make an incomplete item whole, you're not stealing, in a way you're repairing an item and making it whole again, similar to taping the corner of a box set. As long as the photocopies are offered free of charge there is nothing illegal about it. Just don't photocopy and sell the entire thing! That would be a no no.

Posts: 297 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:47 pm

I agree with that too.. My idea was better though. Cool

Posts: 840 · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:50 pm

I agree. The people who deserve to be reported are those who are trying to make money by downloading illegal files from the internet and then selling them. (Especially true when they are shill bidding their own auctions.)

Even if you stated in the auction description that you will include a copy of the maps, I would never report it. I think it is legitimate. Selling the original map with a copy of the module is probably not OK, so everybody must draw the line for himself.

Posts: 1034 · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 6:42 am

Ralf Toth wrote:

Reported:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174010746&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174011238&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174012204&catego ry=44112

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3174012684&catego ry=44112

Looks like these auctions have been pulled.

Do you report them to the copyright owner or to eBay??

Can you post the link(s)? I have seen several of these in the past and would like to be able to report them.

Posts: 840 · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:41 am

Hi John,

please report to Andrew Smith at Wizard of the Coast. His address is at the beginning of this thread.

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:16 am

I got 4 e-mails saying they had been cancelled by a copyright infringement watchdog group. I imagine it was you, Ralf. Good job!

Posts: 840 · Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 12:23 pm

Cool. Were you bidder or seller? Or both?

Posts: 26 · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:41 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44114&item=3174 219384

I think the green paper is a clear give-away. The seller probably doesn't
know it's a photo-copy. At least the copyrights notices are intact. Wink