Discogs - Receiving legal letters asking for legit releases to be blocked

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by eddiel, Sep 19, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Dug this up recently as I was trying to find out why some legit release were blocked

    One of the latest ones was a Motown 1969 David Ruffin album, My Whole World Ended. Checking the edit release page shoed a post by staff stating that

    Discogs David Ruffin

    There no other information and it doesn't appear to be an official court order asking for the block, just a legal letter.

    This could have serious implications on item availability on the Discogs site.

    I checked eBay and that record is listed with both vinyl and cds available.

    Would Discogs really be liable if they allowed the sale via their website and the court rules that, indeed Motown failed to get the rights sorted out?
     
  2. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    This is BS. The original vinyl release was legitimately issued (and if there were any legal entanglements regarding the original Motown release they would either have been resolved or it would be past the expiration of the statue of limitations at this point).

    Now, it's possible there was an illegitimate reissue being listed/sold on Discogs, and they pulled the entire listing down in a poor piece of baby and bathwater overreaction. If I had to guess, this is what happened.
     
  3. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    @kwadguy Yes that is definitely possible. It certainly sounds like a mistake, but it's not the only release this has happened too. Here's another example: Johnny Winter - Guitar Slinger

    The Johnny Winter does have a couple of unofficial releases listed, but I don't see any obvious ones on the David Ruffin listing.

    I don't know what's going on there but it all seems rather odd. If I come across more examples I'll post them.
     
  4. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    Another possibility is that Discogs simply won't stand up to any kind of legal intimidation (easier to switch than fight). So you could have a bogus assertive letter on behalf of someone associated with the album, and instead of investigating, they just take everything down. If that's the case, you very frequently have artists (or their estates) who assert, say, that they never got royalties for a release in Venezuela, and so any offering of the Venezuelan version of the album is "illegal". It's probably not true, but Discogs isn't going to fight.
     
    eddiel likes this.
  5. Romerovm

    Romerovm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham, AL
    I had two original releases canceled recently as well.
     
  6. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Which titles?
     
  7. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Here's something interesting I found regarding the David Ruffin release:
    How has my listing infringed any copyright? - Amazon Seller Discussion Forums

    And the Johnny Winter release has something to do with an Al Reed song. "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"

    Discogs Forum - Items possibly blocked in error from Marketplace

    Looks like someone who owns the rights to certain songs is going after people who list the record. I still question whether this caries any legal weight though. But I'm not a copyright expert.

    I think Discogs might just be complying because they don't want to get involved, as the it's a minimal impact on sales.
     
    Dave likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine