Song of the South - Stopped by eBay

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by JonUrban, May 30, 2003.

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  1. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497 Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Wow, this is wierd. Thought you guys might be interested.

    All of the talk about Song of the South by Steve and others in a previous thread peaked my interest and I went and bagged an LD off of eBay. I won the auction, sent the money, and got the disc. Great transaction all around.

    Then, today, I received this email from eBay:


    Dear Jon R. Urban,

    The following listing:

    3327333875 - Song of the South - Disney - Rare Japanese LD

    was removed by eBay because a member of our Verified Right Owner (VeRO) Program notified eBay that the listing potentially infringes its copyright, trademark or other rights. We strongly urge you not to complete this transaction.

    You can get more information on the VeRO Program at:

    http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-program.html

    Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this issue.

    Regards,

    Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
    eBay Inc



    :eek: :eek: What do you think of THAT?????
    Sounds like Disney is on the warpath!
     
  2. Jeffrey

    Jeffrey Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    South Texas
    ......... or Grant is! :laugh:

    -Jeffrey
     
  3. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    what or who is VeRO? Is it a computer program? A committee?
     
  4. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Fortunately, Jon, you completed the deal and have your LD. But this is a crock: since when does eBay care about infringement? You could choke on the bootlegs and counterfeit CD's and Lp's that are rampant, yet they're worried about a legit Japanese laserdisc? Why, because Disney gets its nose out of joint? Ridiculous. Disney shouldn't have an ounce of clout with eBay. Sounds fishy to me, but that's the kind of paranoia Disney can strike into otherwise sensible people.

    ED:cool:
     
  5. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    The Curse Of Eisner.:realmad:
     
  6. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    No, but you're right about it being a 'program.' Very simple: any rights owner--from a little guy to a monolith like Disney--can fill out a form listing their intellectual property they do not want bought and sold on eBay. Because eBay lists zillions of items a year, they can't catch everything but, if an obvious title hits the computer database, the red flag comes up and that listing is removed. Just to prove how inadequate the system is, by the time Jon and the seller made the transaction, it was too late: Jon gets a notification later, but not in time to stop it. And, once the deal is done, eBay can do nothing. What's less clear is what constitutes infringement. Is it infringement just because a copyright owner says it is? Maybe, maybe not. The whole thing seems absurd, since so many items fall through the cracks anyway.

    ED:cool:
     
  7. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    That's just plain ridiculous Jon.:rolleyes:
     
  8. GuyDon

    GuyDon Senior Member

    I think eBay may be confusing products here. The Japanese laserdisc was an official Disney release. There should be no restrictions as to how it can be bought and sold. Someone may have complained that it was a bootleg copy, confusing it with the commonly available dvdr
     
    64FALCON likes this.
  9. Beatlelennon65

    Beatlelennon65 Active Member

    How freaking stupid can you get? You can buy and sell whatever you want. You wanna buy it, do it. Sell it for profit, do it. Disney can sit and spin.
     
  10. Geoman076

    Geoman076 Sealed vinyl is Fun!!

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    Ebay has no consistency concerning what they pull or don't pull. How the person lists it matters a great deal, I think. I wonder if you can list the Aerosmith album "Live Bootleg" without it being canceled due to the word "Bootleg" in the title.

    I'm glad you got your LD. I don't know how ebay doesn't catch all of the obvious bootlegs that are auctioned. Very weird!
     
  11. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    Maybe... maybe not.

    I was told a strange story by a guy who was selling a Bowie bootleg on eBay. He got a "cease and desist" order from them.

    He has connections and investigated. Apparently it was Mr. Bowie himself who spotted this and had the record label's lawyers send a letter to eBay who pulled the auction.

    What's to stop anyone investigating sales of their product, legit or otherwise? And who knows if the copyright laws have changed or if there is a legal action somewhere against this LD or a part of it.

    The world can be a strange place....
     
  12. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497 Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    What's even stranger is that a quick search of eBay listings returns many questionalbe VHS copies of this film, along with more LD copies, clearly all available for sale.

    I've been buying/selling on eBay since 1998 (that's where the oblio98 comes from), and this is the strangest communication I have ever received.

    Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Da!
     
  13. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Jon, this was probably a mistake on someone's part. If you do a quick Ebay search, not only are there several other SOTS LDs for sale now, but a bunch recently sold as well... and they weren't shut down. Someone must have thought the one you bid on was pirated. Very silly nevertheless.

    What's ironic is that there are also a bunch of SOTS DVDs (hah!) on Ebay right now! :sigh:

    Ray
     
  14. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    One of the waitresses on the "Alice" TV show? :laugh:
     
  15. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Pretentious Bul***t...Give me a break.
     
  16. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497 Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Here is more info I found checking this out:

    Q. What about legitimate Disney videos, VCDs or DVDs released outside the United States?

    A. You cannot sell videos, VCDs or DVDs that were released for sale in other markets. These are called “parallel imports,” and it is a violation of federal law to import or sell product in the United States that was released for sale in other markets.


    Q. What about Song of the South?


    A. Song of the South has not been released for distribution in the United States in any home viewing format. Any listing that offers any video, VCD or DVD of Song of the South for sale in the United States may be suspended. Any listing that offers Song of the South “converted” for viewing on NTSC video players or Zone 1 DVD players is an illegal copy.



    Check out the Disney police info here:

    http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/disneyvero/

    I guess that this confirms that Disney indeed is behind this. What is REALLY bizarre is that this auction was concluded and the deal was done, with +FB from and to both parties.
     
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