eBay scammer - another one?

[deverett]

Have a look at item 320877600289. Seller gorganzolarockandrola is selling plans for Gerry's beam engine. The video is even titled Gerry's Beam Engine.

Can eBay be made to remove this, or because the plans are in the public domain the seller is perfectly entitled to sell the plans?

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[mu38&Bg#]

If the plans are public domain, it's a free for all.

 

[Blogwitch]

OK to be a free for all, but people should be aware that they can be downloaded for free.

I have sent him a question asking him if they are the same plans that can be downloaded for free off here. I will see what the reply is.

I really hate this sort of crap, people should always get their due recognition.


BTW, has he used anyone's builds to get his pictures?


John

 

[JorgensenSteam]

The drawings may be in the public domain, but the owner who created the drawings still holds the copyright to the drawings, and thus controls any commercial use of the drawings.

The drawing owner can actually sue the guy and recoup all of the money earned by selling these drawings (not worth the trouble, but it is a fact).

I note on all of my drawing sets (including those posted here) that the drawings are copyrighted, and all rights are reserved for the Owner, with commerical use of any kind prohibited.

 

[mu38&Bg#]

The drawings may be in the public domain, but the owner who created the drawings still holds the copyright to the drawings, and thus controls any commercial use of the drawings.

Public domain and copyright are mutually exclusive. The text included with the plans says they are public domain. I'm fairly certain believe he has given up any copyright claim by doing so.

Ebay doesn't care if there is a copyright or not, unless the copyright holder says the seller is infringing. Using photos in the listing they don't own is infringing on the photo's copyright and they will pull the listing for that alone.

I see hundreds of plans listed on Ebay for model airplanes. It's been like this for a very long time and they simply don't care.

Ebay does have some rule about digital delivery and what category the item is listed it. It must be in "everything else". I'm not sure how this applies.

Selling free information is nothing new. Buyer beware. I bought a manual on CD for my lathe. I lost it, bought another. Before the second one showed up I managed to find a free copy on the net. Some time later I found the first copy. Oh well, such is life.

Greg

 

[steamer]

Bogs I sent him the same question...... ;D

Dave

 

[steamer]

Funny, it's been 2 1/2 hours since my question...yet no answer!

must be hard to come up with the words.....


As far as sueing....well at $7 each...and he's sold 4.....oh boy....$28....that won't pay for the first minute on the phone with the lawyer....


Dave

 

[mu38&Bg#]

2.5 hours, jeez, maybe I take too long to answer my ebay questions.

 

[steamer]

2.5 hours, jeez, maybe I take too long to answer my ebay questions.

Rof}

 

[Ken I]

The 3D renderings are taken directly form Gerry Dyksta's (oldboatguy) originals by the look of it.

The photo appears to be peatlousers wood frame version

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=14516.0

I guess it was all uploaded from this site.

Ken

 

[PerryRT]

Sad. This sort of thing is pretty common anymore, I'm afraid.

Example: I bought a used Honda Civic a few years back - so like any good mechanic, I figured I should try to find a copy of the service manual. I don't know what was more disappointing - the fact that I found several hundred CD's for sale on eBay (none apparently an official Honda product), or the fact that one Google search later, I found several dozen sites hosting the same information (PDF scans of the service manual) for free.

I could spend hours preaching about the Internet and how the argument about "information wants to be free" supposedly works but typically is a sad excuse for violation of intellectual property rights, but the bottom line is this:
There's ALWAYS some guy out there looking to make a buck. ALWAYS.

There's a reason "Caveat Emptor" is in Latin - this has been going on a long time. :-\

 

[Hilmar]

What is meant by this ?

"I own the PLR to this product "

Hilmar

 

[miner49r]

Ha! Seller stakes he has sold well over 500 copies of these plans. At $7.00 each it still is probably not worth the effort.

Time for a blanket party.
Alan

 

[PerryRT]

Well, PLR stands for Private Label Rights. It's supposed to mean that he has made arrangements with the original author/owner to distribute the plans, in this case....

It might even be true. Hard to say, though, and honestly, it's about as likely that he just heard that if he put that at the bottom of his auction, that eBay would leave him alone.

And still - a simple Google search will turn up a source for the plans for free. There's not a whole lot of "value added" here to justify the cost.

 

[doc1955]

Funny, it's been 2 1/2 hours since my question...yet no answer!

must be hard to come up with the words.....


As far as sueing....well at $7 each...and he's sold 4.....oh boy....$28....that won't pay for the first minute on the phone with the lawyer....


Dave

He does state that he has sold over 500 so far.

 

[steamer]

Ha! Seller stakes he has sold well over 500 copies of these plans. At $7.00 each it still is probably not worth the effort.

Time for a blanket party.
Alan

On the record ......I can't condone violence......... 8)

Lets just hope this individual doesn't run into misfortune in a dark alley.......just saying...

Dave

 

[tel]

Yeah, them alleys are notorious for having banana skins left lying about in 'em.