Ebay and WB can kiss my ASS!

[MaulFan]

From what I hear, Warner and FOX are notorious for cracking down on people. The only time I've seen LFL step in is when people actually claimed official licenses and authenticity of prop replicas, really shady stuff that warrants investigation.

It's crazy how some companies can be so retentive and corporate and others loose and not care.

Hell, Josh's Myers was commented on by the man who played him for that incarnation and nothing legal came out of that.

It's a shame really because it'd be fun to take paintings, figures, whatever art you might make, to a convention or something if you could meet the actor or whatever, but you have to fear if you do an they're the legal tight wad type, you'll have a swarm of lawyers pinning you down.

 

[amarcord]

That must be dissapointing Darkartist, maybe you can still contact bidders (don't know if eBay keeps their identities hidden, they often do) otherwise this forum is still a nice way of selling.

I now even feel lucky haven found the Jack Joker on eBay, I also think most of us found it there.


And Maulfan I don't think Warner Brothers would sue you as your photos are more like fanmade and not for profit. They would better pay you for making them

 

[creecher]

The least ebay ought to do is offer an explanation. These corporations might own licencing right to a likeness, but not so much a name. Mr Freeze could be anyone. Jack Frost, Mrs Freeze's husband even. Especially when it is an interpretation, and not a direct attempt at a copy. If they can sue, then DA ought to be able to sue for defaming his good name, individual artistry, and his right to have an auction and to sell off his own compositions. These corporations are choking off his right to operate a business.

 

[UTtoyfan]

How dare they do this to you, the Darkartist???!?!?!?
This is an outrage!!!
Ebay sucks ^^^!

 

[mikeap001]

Maybe if you posted it but under a different name it would be okay. Try using the name "Mr. Zero". Older fans of Batman DC/National Comics would recognize this as "Mr. Freeze" that was the name before he was renamed "Mr. Freeze" during the TV Series...

 

[automaton]

customs such as this only fuel the market... i mean, someone buys a custom mr. freeze and next thing you know they are picking up Hot Toys Two Face and Joker to go with it...

i'll bet it was an individual complaining... it was a one - off... there are dozens of batman related one - offs selling on ebay constantly... someone had a beef with it for whatever reason...

 

[Badvermin]

The least ebay ought to do is offer an explanation. These corporations might own licencing right to a likeness, but not so much a name. Mr Freeze could be anyone. Jack Frost, Mrs Freeze's husband even. Especially when it is an interpretation, and not a direct attempt at a copy.

That is wrong. You can trademark both a name and a likeness.

If they can sue, then DA ought to be able to sue for defaming his good name, individual artistry, and his right to have an auction and to sell off his own compositions. These corporations are choking off his right to operate a business.

If you don't have the IP rights, you don't have the right to profit off it.

 

[creecher]

I'm not saying you can't trademark both name and likeness. That isn't the point. That is misdirecting the point, which is what this thread is all about.

Yeah, it's not THE Mr Freeze from the licenced film that it refers to. It doesn't bear any resemblance to that one. This one is an interpretation. Are you telling me that if my name happens to be Joe Freeze, that I can't call myself Mr Freeze? That'd be ludicrous.

It could be argued that DA isn't profiting from the IP rights in any case, rather he is profiting from the hours of work he has put into accumulating parts and the labour of painting his figure up. Which leads to saying he isn't profiteering at all, because the price he will get probably wouldn't cover the cost of his input.

 

[MaulFan]

Unfortunately, WB wants sole entitlement to profits off anything it can control.

 

[turtlepower73]

sorry to hear that. disney is like that too..

 

[creecher]

That's when companies and big enterprises and politicians go too far, and overstep their boundaries. Excessive greed is what lead the globe into its current predicament and it needs to be stopped and neutered.

I'm looking at you ebay.

 

[customizerwannabe]

The current global economic problems were caused by individual excess and credit abuse.

 

[DarkArtist81]

I'm not saying you can't trademark both name and likeness. That isn't the point. That is misdirecting the point, which is what this thread is all about.

Yeah, it's not THE Mr Freeze from the licenced film that it refers to. It doesn't bear any resemblance to that one. This one is an interpretation. Are you telling me that if my name happens to be Joe Freeze, that I can't call myself Mr Freeze? That'd be ludicrous.

It could be argued that DA isn't profiting from the IP rights in any case, rather he is profiting from the hours of work he has put into accumulating parts and the labour of painting his figure up. Which leads to saying he isn't profiteering at all, because the price he will get probably wouldn't cover the cost of his input.

Ditto man, that is my point exactly.

 

[Promising Galahad]

Hey, sorry to hear about your auction, DA. I know the feeling as I just had one pulled myself. Mine was for a head sculpt of Christopher Reeve as Superman I obtained on eBay four years ago directly from tk570. Initially, I too thought that someone was either impersonating WB or reported me. It seems, however, that my own words may have led to the auction being closed. In the title I listed the head sculpt as being Christopher Reeve as Superman, when I probably should have put it down simply as a head sculpt of Christopher Reeve, nothing more. I also used the term "bootleggers" in my description of the item, as in "...this is not a recast as sold by 'bootleggers' here on eBay..." I think Warner Brothers did a title and description search for Superman and bootleg and stumbled upon my auction. They mention on their ME page how counterfeit items can be found on eBay by searching for key words. They probably use these key words themselves to locate fakes, and, in my case, a custom head sculpt that they didn't take time to notice wasn't a counterfeit of one of their products. I've looked for numerous custom Superman items such as clocks and figures and still find them. I'm thinking it was probably the use of certain terms that led to my auction being pulled. At least in my case.

I wouldn't be overly upset at eBay. Think about it this way, if Warner Brothers asked eBay to have the listing removed, is eBay supposed to say no?

Personally, I'm not upset at either company. I am upset in general for a reason I won't disclose regarding the pulling of my auction, but I understand both's motives. The way I see it, someone at WB is just using a bunch of search terms to find counterfeit goods on eBay and doesn't have the time to read through listings to ensure that the listings are indeed of counterfeit items.

 

[Promising Galahad]

By the way, I do find it laughable that they would use search terms to find counterfeit goods. What counterfeiter is going to tell the truth about their item being fake? That's like those infomercials and commercials that offer a money back guarantee if the product doesn't work. People hear this and think, "well it must work then." Of course, if they're lying about their product working, why wouldn't they be lying about offering a refund? Many scammers like Kevin Trudeau know they can get away with it... usually.

 

[DarkArtist81]

But the keyword thing is nonsense... They should actually look at the damn auction before they shut it down.

And for selling, you almost need to have the keyword right or nobody will even find you sale to begin with. I couldn't sell this thing as Freezy guy or Mr. Cold... or Ice Man... Nobody would get it or FIND it. Especially since it's unrecognizable as Mr. Freeze unless you actually start looking at it.

I understand that they are just protecting their products, but they need to actually LOOK at the damn auctions they close, before they close them. I mean, I wasn't selling knock off Mr. Freeze figures. I was selling ONE piece of art, that was all.

 

[Promising Galahad]

I agree completely. I thought about taking any genuine products of mine, putting them up for auction with those terms I shouldn't use that, in context would be all right, but taken out of context, would have my auctions shut down. But I don't really have anything else to sell. Plus, I don't want to deal with the hassle of getting banned for selling legitimate products.

This idea reminds me of James Randi's devilish plan to expose those useless counterfeit detection markers. The markers are a scam (whether intentional or not, I don't know); counterfeiters use real bills or non cheap paper. Randi has said that he had occasionally gone to the bank, withdrawn five thousand dollars(!) each time, spread them out on the table, sprayed them with starch, then returned them to the bank. The spray starch will have the bills show up as counterfeit when marked off with those markers, despite being real and having come from a bank! You can imagine the trouble this would cause. Randi's an evil guy. And a hero of mine.