zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

For the second time in four days I've had to take action to protect pictures on my site to prevent them being used on eBay auctions...

In the first incident the seller of a Heuer Carrera literally copied the contents of my page of a Heuer Carrera catalog and pasted it into his auction listing. In the second incident the seller of a Omega Speedmaster Mark III literally copied the pertentent contents of my Mark Series page, in particular the instructions for how to use the Mark III in his auction listing. In addition, he looted my photo's of my watch, and the Mark III's movement and presented those pictures as being of the watch he was selling...

Before:
Heuer Carrera Auction	Omega Speedy Mark III Auction

Sometimes I can only report the copyright violations to eBay and hope that they will pull the auction before it closes. However in both of these instances I was able to take more direct and immediate action on my own...

After:
Heuer Carrera Auction	Omega Speedy Mark III Auction

I will not stand still when people use and abuse my site for their own profit and for fraudulent purposes. Even though it's a major additional burden on my time, If someone takes fraudulent liberties with my work on eBay or elsewhere, I make it my mission in life to make sure the abuse stops and I am not particularly concerned if an auction or sale is spoiled or not.

I am a firm believer in "an Informed consumer is the best customer"... I encourage people, even those who are listing items on eBay and/or sales corners, to link to my pages. I encourage those links as it shows to me that the seller is confident enough of his wares that he wants his customer to know what they are. I also have no problem with people quoting short passages (a paragraph or smaller) of my work in their listing as long as credit (or a link to the passage) is given...

But misrepresenting my photo's as the watch that's being offered for sale/auction, and or using my site to support such salees is not only wrong and improper, it's mighty impolite to me and the people you are wishing to do business with.

I'd really rather not waste my time on such matters, but I feel no alternative but to defend myself from people who would make me an accessory to their fraud.

I've archived before and after .pdf documents of the Carrera [before / after] and Speedmaster Mark III [before / after] incidents for those of you who are interested in the details.

I'd like to thank Paul for bringing the Carrera Auction to my attention, and Eric for bringing the Speedmaster Mark III Auction to my attention. I greatly appreciate your efforts!

-- Chuck

P.S. I should also point out, that people linking to my site in their sales or auction listings does not imply a sanction by me of their items in any way... Any more than an automaker or computer maker including a quote from a newspaper article or review is an endorsement.

P.P.S. It really cheeses me off I have to spend so much time typing up such stuff as this. If I wanted to do this I would have become a lawyer or a para-legal...