[jumper4d8]

In January I came across a seller who was selling "custom" cards, basically he was ripping images from Google images and printing them on cardboard stock and selling them as his own work. Problem is that he had ripped one of my digital images of a What If? card that I had posted on my blog in 2014. The digital card I made was a What If Fleer had made an autograph booklet card of Billy Ripken's 1989 F-Face rookie card/bat knob.

I do quite a few custom cards for fun to post on my blog but I will never sell any of my work, I have sent some out for TTM autos and I do send some to readers of my blog, but my work is not for profit.

So on January 4th I messaged the guy and sent him a link to my blog with the post, he explained how he gets the images but agreed to remove the auction. I was satisfied but now it is 3 months later and he is selling the same exact card and I am done being nice. I tried emailing him through the auction but apparently he has shut down the questions option. I contacted eBay using their VeRO program and filed a report that he is using my intellectual property without authorization.

Here is the auction he is selling my digital work as his own, sadly he also has a number of Bob Lemke's work which he has continued to sell even though I explained who Bob was and that he had passed away recently. This guy has no scruples.

[hckydv7]

If you do not copyright your work than anyone can use it if you post it on a public place such as the inernet.

[DrMitchJ]

If you do not copyright your work than anyone can use it if you post it on a public place such as the inernet.

That's not entirely true or factual.

Due to 'invalid characters'I cant copy or paste, but the copyright act of 1976 clearly states full protection to the creator of any artwork, photo, etc in any media its produced. Look it up. 17 U.S.C.A. 102 (a)

[jumper4d8]

If you do not copyright your work than anyone can use it if you post it on a public place such as the inernet.

I am a professional graphic designer and I can not copyright this particular card/booklet since I do not own the rights to Fleer or Upper Deck, the current owner of Fleer's product line. This piece, as designed, is my intellectual property only. If he just reprinted the 89 Fleer Billy Ripken RC I would have no say but because he included the other half of the booklet with the bat knob then he has stolen my intellectual property.

This is the reason that I have begun to use watermarks on my designs, though that hasn't stopped this guy because he is selling a 1989 Upper Deck Griffey that Beckett had created using Griffey from Macklemore's Downtown video and there is a Beckett watermark on the face of the card this guy is selling.

[uvaspina]

That's not entirely true or factual.

Due to 'invalid characters'I cant copy or paste, but the copyright act of 1976 clearly states full protection to the creator of any artwork, photo, etc in any media its produced. Look it up. 17 U.S.C.A. 102 (a)

Dr. Mitch is right. Technically, you don't need to do anything to "copyright" a creation. Anything that you write/create belongs to you. That means if you take a picture, make a drawing, or write an essay, I cannot sell it. Of course, REGISTERING a copyright provides additional protections but, again, technically it's not necessary.

There's another concept called "fair use" (allowing reproduction for certain purposes, like reporting on news events) that does not apply in this instance.

[jonathani]

You still have to prove it was your creation first. That's usually pretty tough if you weren't interviewed with the object in question, pictures or video were taken, and a date stamp included. Anything you produce is indeed copyrighted automatically (your shipping list for this week's groceries and your 4th grade science fair project, for example), but if we didn't need to prove it sometimes, there wouldn't be https://www.copyright.gov to help us through the steps of making it official.

[jumper4d8]

You still have to prove it was your creation first. That's usually pretty tough if you weren't interviewed with the object in question, pictures or video were taken, and a date stamp included. Anything you produce is indeed copyrighted automatically (your shipping list for this week's groceries and your 4th grade science fair project, for example), but if we didn't need to prove it sometimes, there wouldn't be https://www.copyright.gov to help us through the steps of making it official.

The image is posted on my blog dated January 6, 2014. I am more irritated at his reaction to being asked to stop selling it, he claims his friend owns the rights to the specific Billy Ripken card and his final response to me was that if I contact him again he is going to file harassment charges against me. Which I know is BS but I do realize that dealing with him directly will not get anything accomplished.

He did end the auction for the card so that was a start but I know people have filed reports regarding his inclusion of Topps, Upper Deck and Panini logos/trademarks on many of his cards. Not sure what to expect from eBay because this guy is making them money even though he is selling fake/counterfeit cards and stealing other people's work.