Pictures from blog lifted and used in an ebay auction

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 29, 2013 at 10:52 pm

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  Hi,
  I stumbled upon an ebay auction that has photographs that were stolen from the oldsingersewingmachine blog. I don’t think I can report it to ebay because I am not the owner of the photos, and I can’t figure out how to contact the owner of the blog. I can’t find a “contact” or “email” link. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. –Sheila

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 29, 2013 at 10:56 pm

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  WordPress has automatically appended my comment with “The blog I need help with is newyorkramsey.wordpress.com.” This is not the case. I need help with the oldsingersewingmachine.com blog.

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  timethief · Member · Aug 29, 2013 at 10:56 pm

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  Go to the blog in question and locate the contact information or use a comment box on the blog to contact the blog’s owner.

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  timethief · Member · Aug 29, 2013 at 10:59 pm

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  Note that URL ie. domain name oldsingersewingmachine.com is not registered.

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  raincoaster · Member · Aug 29, 2013 at 11:44 pm

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  You have the option to contact EBay as well, and report that the auction is using stolen images.

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 12:37 am

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  Sorry, it’s oldsingersewingmachineblog

  The relevant option on ebay is to report it as “eBay item infringes on your intellectual property rights”. But they’re not my property rights.

  I couldn’t find the contact information on the blog, and I’m hesitant to muck up the comments with this annoyance.
  Thanks for the replies.

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 12:38 am

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  The link I posted doesn’t work. it’s oldsingersewingmachineblog.com

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  raincoaster · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 1:29 am

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  If they are not your rights, you cannot assert them. If you cannot contact the blogger whose images were used, then you can go no further. Perhaps they gave permission.

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 2:27 am

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  Raincoaster, I think you’re right. It’s a ridiculous use of the picture because it’s not even of the item being offered for sale. I’m sure they don’t have permission. Vintage sewing machine enthusiasts frown upon the practice of using images that are not of the actual item being sold. I think most people, not just vintage sewing machine nuts feel that way. A stock photo of a brand new item that is available by the truckload is one thing, but a used vintage item does not have an associated stock photo.

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  raincoaster · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 2:29 am

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  Then report it for being a photograph which is not of the item for sale.

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  sheila0 · Member · Aug 30, 2013 at 6:16 am

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  I thought of that, but those types of complaints don’t carry much weight. Ebay takes copyright infringement very seriously. I ended up leaving a comment for the owner of the photo in his current blog. He’s actually no longer the owner of the blog I mentioned before, though the pictures are still his. Thanks for your help. –Sheila