Hi there,
I am a new member here with a question about plagiarism. There is an Ebay seller that has taken a poem I am familiar with and is using it to make a profit. I find this unacceptable and immoral. What to do? You can see the auction by going to ebay and putting the numbers 140208914954 into the search engine. I've written to the author, hope to hear from them soon.
99% of the websites I checked list this poem as "author unknown"
one does mention an author, but is that truly the author?
Also, the item in question is more in the nature of a craft project than a publishing of a work
IF, you can prove that the poem was written and COPYRIGHTED, then you have legal grounds to stop its publication. Contact the people of EBAY, here is a website that will help you to do that: [pages.ebay.com] />
A word of caution, EBAY has a staff of very high paid lawyers, so they will probably comply with your request to censure the poster of the poem, but seeking monetary reward for a copyright infringement seldom results in a cash settlement from EBAY.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2008 04:51PM by les712.
Les, do you remember a thread where there was some argument back and forth about people claiming to be the author of some similarly styled poem?
Question: Let's say I buy a greeting card (or take one that's given to me), and I make a craft project out of it, applying rhinestones and buttons and ribbons and frames, and then try to sell it.
Seems like fair use to me, but what do I know?
Les, do you remember a thread where there was some argument back and forth about people claiming to be the author of some similarly styled poem?
Yes, I do, but the point was moot because neither could prove that they had ever COPYRIGHTED the piece. Without proof of copyright no court will grant an injunction against the use of a written work.
The understanding I have of the case against the Ebay user is that the poem may have been attributed to "anonymous" on some website leading the person who used that poem to believe that they were picking a poem from the public domain. The only person who really has the right to restrict use of a written work is the author, or author's representative, usually a publishing company.
The main point I was trying to make above is that the author needs to make sure that he has proof that the poem is his. Secondly, if there is not a profit made from the sale of the poem, and not its presentation, then there is no cash settlement possible. Also, the internet provider may pull the item to avoid any type of conflict. EBAY has thousands of claims against them each year, so whatever is the legal standard will be quite evident to them.
Les