. wrote:Even though I have bought the PDF quite legally, and am allowed to print it out for my own use, I am not permitted to give either the PDF away, or the printout.

I don't know UK law, but you can give a legally obtained PDF away in the USA under the doctrine of first sale.  Title 17 of the US Code permits this action explicitly:

US Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, § 109(a) wrote:...the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord. ...

You own one copy of the PDF.  You can dispose of that particular legally obtained copy in any manner you'd like, including selling it.  Any printouts or copies made for fair use purposes must be disposed of at the same time as the original, or they would be a copyright infringement as soon as the original was disposed.

WotC's licensing withdrawal doesn't affect you at all.  ESD was licensed to create and distribute copies for non-personal use; now they are not.  You weren't licensed in the first place; you're permitted by law to transfer ownership of legally obtained copies and that doesn't change.

Mars wrote:I think the intent of this thread is to after sellers like this:

eBay listings

Absolutely, but I didn't think the list of books even looked that good anyway!  

For most compilations it probably isn't much of a stretch to say they were illegally obtained.  Most usually contain 100+ books which puts their original price at a few thousand dollars.  Not likely that the guy now only wants $2 for it.  Or that he bought 30 copies of each to resell, etc.

Although selling PDFs does seem to work out not too badly.  The guy I posted the other day has a rating of almost 200 on Ebay all through selling his pdfs.  If you look at his D&D auction under purchases:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


He has sold about 25 copies in this latest auction already.  He's not making huge money but a few dollars each auction adds up.

Mars wrote:For most compilations it probably isn't much of a stretch to say they were illegally obtained.  Most usually contain 100+ books which puts their original price at a few thousand dollars.  Not likely that the guy now only wants $2 for it.  Or that he bought 30 copies of each to resell, etc.

Although selling PDFs does seem to work out not too badly.  The guy I posted the other day has a rating of almost 200 on Ebay all through selling his pdfs.  If you look at his D&D auction under purchases:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


He has sold about 25 copies in this latest auction already.  He's not making huge money but a few dollars each auction adds up.

this guy being from Liverpool, is only ~20 miles from me. i have pulled him up twice before. i remember the name very well. he has had auctions pulled before. i have reported him, but would also appreciate a few others reporting too.

thanks

Al

** expired/removed eBay auction **


Picture taken from the Forgetten Realms boxed set I believe.

Mars wrote:
Is there an infringement on this type of thing?  I'm not sure if there is.  Maybe unauthorized use of the image?  So the artist is probably the copyright holder?

Nah, in the description it says she used forgotten 'collector's cards' to make the tiles. I recognize most of them from the 92 set..

Mars wrote:
Even so, I don't know if that allows her to cut them up are use them in a different application for resale.

I'm not a lawyer, so this is just my opinion:

If she changed her description to "Custom Card Holder Necklace complete with Dungeons & Dragons Card" she would be in the clear.  A lawyer would argue that this is the same as selling a damaged baseball card, in a Plexiglas case designed to hang on the wall.   She is not selling the art as her own,she is simply repackaging art she has purchased for display in another manner.  

Now, all that being said:  If WotC got their panties in a bunch, they would put her in the poorhouse in court to prove she is in the right.  Sadly, that is how copyright litigation goes in this country.

mordrin wrote:I reported almost every one of them.  Don't seem to have gone anywhere.

In copyright issues, eBay only act if the copyright holder contacts them direct and asks for a specific item to be removed. In those instances they will remove an item and place a warning on the seller's file. If your average guy in the street believes and item breaches copyright and complains about it, that is neither here nor there. It's one disgruntled browser's word against a seller, and eBay file it in their junk spam mail filter after sending out a autoreply. There is no use in reporting copyright violations to eBay unless you own copyright.

All that said, there is no way eBay can confirm whether or not you are a copyright holder. You can claim to have provided illustrations for a book contained on the CD and that it breaches your copyright. That is enough for them to pull an item.

JohnGaunt wrote:Please report these eBay clowns.  These two may be the same person, as their D&D CDs had identical auction text:

. . . eBay listings
. . . eBay listings

Only the copyright holder can have an item removed for copyright infringement. All you can do is buy it and then leave negative feedback and chargeback your CC. Anyways, at 99c it's not like they're even going to make a profit at it. They're running at a loss from the get go. Let's assume they gat the item for free, someone gives them free DVDs that are already burnt. Not likely, but let's assume. He packs it, and posts it for the price of the shipping and after paypal and ebay fees he's still losing money. The guy is working for free, putting in his own time, and even if al else pans out, he can only break even. The best thing you can do is buy the thing, cos it causes the guy to lose money and waste his time.