Cory,
This is an interesting idea, and I think the major full-time poster
sellers here on MOPO should start emailing each other privately to see
if they can get some kind of self-defense coop going. I'm sure there
must be some lawyers on MOPO who could possibly offering letter-writing
services at a discount as a service to the hobby.
However, someone (possibly David, since he's in a active dispute
resolution mode with his Ebay rep) could find out what happens if the
person who filed the complaint retracts it? Is the a provision for this?
If so, does retraction mean the original seller is free to list the item
again without some Ebay automatic robot monitor still flagging the
re-list as a "violation"?
My guess is that once Ebay has flagged the item that no matter how it is
resolved that you would still run the chance of being, um, violated.
Still, even forgetting about this one issue, it wouldn't be a bad idea
for the sellers to have a group organization to deal with other issues.
Perhaps the LAMP-certification structure/membership fostered by Ed at
http://learnaboutmovieposters.com could serve as a starting point?
-- JR
Cory Glaberson wrote:
Its exactly right to say the eBay doesn't want to get into the middle
of any sort of dispute so it sets up a program that simply passes on
the dispute. And of course they charge the VERO (Verified Rights)
people to do this, so its good income stream for them to have this
program.
What I think would work is for one of us who has been so affected
to send a letter to Mara Corday's handlers from one our Lawyers
pointing out the relevant law and darkly threatening some sort of
"action" if she doesn't stop abusing her rights. That is one way EBay
shifts the costs of doing business back on us. What I object to is
eBay threatening us with violations that drop our listing presence and
potentially kick us off eBay. I bet that has not ever happened since
that action would force a lawsuit from me. eBay is just trying to push
us to sue the Corday estate.
Without this penalty from EBay most of us would just shrug when
they remove a listing. But hurting our standing with EBay is another
story.
Lawsuits are expensive. Minimum cost to initiate a minor case like
this is $25,000. Even defending yourself from a lawsuit can cost that
much. So the stakes have to be pretty high to really get into it legally.
That's why you don't see a lot of stars doing this, they talk with
their lawyers and they realize it can become an ungodly mess and there
is no up side - you won't make any money and it costs too much to
start suing a lot of people. All you do will hurt your reputation
(which is all some of these people have).
So the real question is: *Can the sellers on MOPO get together and
form some sort of group that will help defend the selling industry
against this sort of nonsense?*
The cost of a series of letters by a lawyer is about $200 to $500
(I checked this out with my lawyer). I have had my own listings
removed. I have standing in this dispute. I'd be happy to pay for half
the cost of such a letter if the other sellers would be willing to
contribute the other half.
Remember a letter like this is just an opening gun. It doesn't mean
a law suit. All it will do is hopefully force the other party to come
to their senses and go to their lawyer and learn what their actual
rights are.
Maybe we can call the group the Mara Corday Appreciation Society
(MCAS) just for grins.
Cory Glaberson
cglaber...@aol.com
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