darkseraphim wrote:The descriptive text created by a website or an eBay user is the copyright of that organization or individual. You are not supposed to use it without permission. If you ask for permission, you may very well be declined -- the premise is that people put in honest work in their descriptions to increase their own marketability and reputation, not to have you steal it. eBay allows for the cancellation of plagiarized descriptions.Shipping options etc. -- this falls under the above if it's verbatim. If it's modified, it's debatable, but should be credited unless you want an annoyed rival who would make a worthier ally. If you insist on pushing it, currently it's quite easy for a years-established seller to end the copycatting of upstarts. Not 100% moral, but easy. Please recognize hard work where you see it, and if you admire it, do your own hard work that you can forever call your own.Then there is the gray area of formatting -- that falls under "look and feel," and is very debatable. I don't mind if my format is stolen, since I think large scans and a clearly delineated grading scale both assist the collector community in making fair transactions and informed decisions. And everyone has their own format and grading scale. I personally recommend, at the very least, crediting who you're taking the format from. Especially if it's a website. Note that this refers to format, not to content (see above).
darkseraphim wrote:But a piece doesn't have to be "creative" in the artistic sense to be covered by copyright. If I stole an editorial from the New York Times, changed the byline to my own, and posted the article on a high-traffic website as my own original work, you can be sure as hell that I'd have plagiarism action taken against me. Hey, they're just using the English language for basic communication, right?
darkseraphim wrote:>>Your example didn't really prove your point, but it was a good point all the same.I know, I was just being facetious. Apologies.
bbarsh wrote:I noticed recently a couple sellers have stolen my "layout" and grading set up for my auctions. They did not take my descriptions, but clearly adjusted the presentation to match my stuff. I checked their feedback to review other sales...and lo and behold their styles changed just after I started selling...Flattering, yes...unethical, yes.