J.K. Rowling Fans Asked to Help in War Against eBay

J.K. Rowling Fans Asked to Help in War Against eBay

March 09, 2007 by
Amy Brantley  
Amy Brantley
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A Petition that Supports J.K. Rowling

A couple weeks ago it was reported that J.K. Rowling had won an injunction against the auction giant eBay. This injunction requires eBay to remove all illegal J.K. Rowling works that eBay sellers have up for auction. EBay will have to do this until they go back to court in May. This means
J.K. Rowling Fans Asked to Help in War Against eBay
 eBay will have to remove any Harry Potter e-books from their site because these are illegal copies of J.K. Rowling's work.

Fans are being misled into thinking these e-books are authentic when in reality, J.K. Rowling has made it very clear that there will not be e-book versions of her Harry Potter books. Sellers who auction off such items are no different than people who are selling illegal copies of DVDs, which is probably why eBay chooses to ignore such auctions. EBay has become notorious for their illegal auctions with sellers having everything from illegal copies of CDs to the e-books that are now causing eBay so much trouble. If eBay loses, more companies will be expecting the same treatment. This means eBay will once and for all have to do what is right. They will have to remove not only copies of DVDs but fake clothing from popular designers and everything in between.

J.K. Rowling's lawyer took things one step further by asking Harry Potter fans to sign a petition that will be going to eBay. The petition states the person signing the petition supports J.K. Rowling and her actions. The petition goes on to state why they support her decisions. This is an excerpt from the petition:

"Furthermore, we suggest that eBay has acted in an irresponsible manner by not addressing this fraud and recommend that they remedy the situation by implementing the following changes at a minimum:

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Related information
Takeaways
  • Court goes back in session in May.
  • Petition supports J.K. Rowling.
  • As of March 9th, almost 2,000 fans had signed the petition.
 
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Jk Rowling has every right to sue anyone she wants who is misrepresenting her, or anything to do with her name. Ebay doesnt even have a phone number to reach anyone..It's a joke...All they care about is there ridiculously high fees, and making money........even if it is fraudulently!!!!!!!
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Posted on 08/14/2007 at 1:08:00 PM

JK Rowling is now a Billionaire. Do you think she's suing to help her readers? Or maybe somebody else?
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Posted on 03/15/2007 at 2:03:00 PM

This is a really interesting piece of news; thanks, Amy, for helping me hear about it :) I think that there must be a middle ground between holding eBay fully responsible, or entirely not responsible for what is listed-- eBay should certainly be working with people like Rowling to make it as easy as possible for artists and writers to protect their copyright, but I don't think it's realistic to expect the eBay staff to be able to investigate whether every single item listing they get is legal is not. They'd need a huge team of people in order to do that! It seems like it doesn't make sense to ask eBay to take on that job alone, especially since law enforcement already has the right (and perhaps the duty, right?) to pursue people selling illegal items. If anything, I think that police should be looking into eBay sales the same way that they look at other forums where copyright-infringing works are sold-- trying to track down lawbreakers so that everyone else can conduct their busi
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Posted on 03/13/2007 at 1:03:00 PM

What about the J K Rowling fans boycotting eBay, and using other sites like eBid and Tazbar, that might focus them on all the fraudulant stuff when it hits their massive profits.
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Posted on 03/12/2007 at 6:03:00 AM

It is not eBay's responsibility to be the Police. The only people that should be prosecuted or sued are the sellers. This is SO stupid. In regards to the last statement in your article, I would want my children to realize who is the criminal, and to appreciate the value that open marketplaces have. More restriction on eBay means a lot of people will suffer. Many families rely on money they get from eBay, and it is continually scrutinized for sellers' offenses. All that ever does is make it a harder place to sell items.
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 9:03:00 PM

eBay has a scheme called VeRO (Verified Rights Owners) for this kind of situation. All "J.K. Rowling, her legal representatives, or her business partners" have to do is download a form, sign it and return it to eBay. Then they can report dodgy listings and they WILL be removed immediately.
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 7:03:00 PM

Sorry, I find it wrong that eBay is making money off of these auctions. It would be different if they didn't. But they do.
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 3:03:00 PM

I disagree with her suiung Ebay. If she ha a problem with what is being in the auctions, then go after the individuals who are doing the actual selling of fake merchandise. But for her it's easier to go after Ebay and have them do all the work. Ebay just sets up a place for people to buy and sell. You buy and sell at your own risk and Ebay should not be help responsible for stupid purchases.
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 1:03:00 PM

It all comes down to the right of the author to protect her product and her readers. JK Rowling only wants what is best for her readers. She wants them to have what they paid for not a fake. That's my view on all this, anyway. Great Article Amy,
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 12:03:00 PM

Should not be ebay's job. Ebay rents space. JK Rowling should be after the actual perpetrators. The only reason for trying to circumvent that little detail is that the money for winning in lawsuits is at the level of Ebay and not very lucrative to sue the actual perps. Sorry, I have to side with EBay on this one. NO WAY that every person in EBay sales should have to foot the bill which will be passed on to them via Rowling's copyright disputes. Go get the perps. Rowlings. Ebay is just the street, they are not the seller.
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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 10:03:00 AM

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