Eric and others, Here is a good link to intellectual property rights called the Berne convention: http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html
It is my personal opinion that ebay should be shut down for all plant sales. I have had many of my pictures stolen by ebay sellers, in fact they have often put their copyright right on top of my photos! ebay is very unresponsive and actually does very little about problems like this. They make the process difficult and time consuming, often people just give up dealing with them after a while. There are other reasons I think e-bay should be shut down for all plant sales. First of all does everyone know out there that the sales of plant material across borders are regulated by the various states departments of agriculture? Once plants are sold and move across state lines it is illegal unless your business ( if you sell plants you are a business) is regulated ( registered or certified) by the department of agriculture in the state the plants are grown in or shipped from. Many ebay sellers don't have these certificates or aren't regulated. There are fees involved and this is one of the things that separate a professional company from an amateur hobby type business. Does everyone think it is fair that we have to pay these fees to be in business and a back-yarder or basement grower does not? As a professional nurseryman who has been in this business since 1978 I think that ebay should at the very least be sure that sellers of any plant material be registered and or certified with the Dept. of agriculture in their states. In addiiton, e-bay should also certify that these folks are bonafide businesses with Tax Id numbers and resale certificates. I can tell you horror stories of illegal orchid plants being shipped from foreign countries. Just a couple of years ago our state (Minnesota) dept. of Agriculture had to shut down an e-bay seller who was selling Hostas that had a new kind of virus (from Holland) not known in the states before. The seller was selling these Hostas as novelty plants with "unique" foliage. This was a hobbyist type grower/re-seller. I believe that if you are going to sell and ship orchids or other plants across state lines then you are a business and should be subject to the same requirements and regulations (and costs) as any other professional nursery would. Sincerely, Jerry Lee Fischer Orchids Limited 4630 Fernbrook Lane N. Plymouth, Minnesota 55446 USA Toll-free: 1-800-669-6006 Local: 763-559-6425 Fax: 763-557-6956 Website: www.orchidweb.com Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
