| Discussion Forum: Thread 321560 |
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| | | Author: | StickyBrickit  | | Posted: | May 24, 2022 05:57 | | Subject: | Copyright Issues With Custom MOC Stickers | | Viewed: | 121 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
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| Hi all,
So this isn't strictly a Bricklink issue but I thought the people on here
might have some insight. As well as selling on BL we also have an eBay store
and one of items we started selling was custom sticker sheets for Lego MOCs,
e.g. we do some Blacktron ones which include some of the standard Blacktron symbols
but a lot are our own design. Given how many people on eBay sell sticker sheets
that are basically like-for-like replacements of existing ones then we thought
that doing our own version for sets that never had stickers (e.g. Blacktron)
would actually be okay.
About 2-3 weeks after listing the stickers we had them ALL removed overnight
by eBay who sent the following in an email:
""Your listing was reported by LEGO Juris A/S for using their brand name inappropriately.
eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme offers intellectual property owner(s)
a way to report listings that they believe infringe on their rights".
Which is annoying but if are infringing copyright then I understand the reasons.
However if you go to eBay and search for "Lego custom stickers", there are dozens
of sellers with literally hundreds of listings between them that are clearly
just copies of existing stickers sheets! So it's odd that we had our MOC
stickers removed (that were admittedly in the "theme" of existing Lego sets)
but you have plenty of other sellers that are blatantly just copying existing
stickers, but this is fine!
I'm not sure how VeRO works, whether it's automatic or if someone actually
has to manually report listings to eBay. Nor am I sure how so many other sellers
get away with it yet we had our listings removed when they were just in the Lego
theme and not direct copies?
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| | | | | Author: | EmblaRonja | | Posted: | May 24, 2022 06:45 | | Subject: | Re: Copyright Issues With Custom MOC Stickers | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
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| Hello,
quite easy to understand if you ask me!
If you would copy right of existing sticker sheets that Lego sells themselves
they would probably also been taken down pretty quick. But then Lego rarely sell
sticker sheets? So a copy of a sticker is only a way to please the "retro market"
who wants to restore an old set. That's good for Lego's overall business
I think and has a lot of equal standings in old car logo parts or similar for
entusiast market.
But when you mix an existing Logo with your own graphics there is always a chance
that you communicate something different than what Lego intended to do from the
start. For example say that you want to build an army of Blacktron-Nazi fighters
and for that make a sticker with two Logos... (you undertand what I thinking
about).
Therefor - as a company - you should never let any one play around with your
logo so that your "message" to the market might be misunderstood.
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| | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | May 24, 2022 07:06 | | Subject: | Re: Copyright Issues With Custom MOC Stickers | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
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| In Announce, StickyBrickit writes:
| | Hi all,
So this isn't strictly a Bricklink issue but I thought the people on here
might have some insight. As well as selling on BL we also have an eBay store
and one of items we started selling was custom sticker sheets for Lego MOCs,
e.g. we do some Blacktron ones which include some of the standard Blacktron symbols
but a lot are our own design. Given how many people on eBay sell sticker sheets
that are basically like-for-like replacements of existing ones then we thought
that doing our own version for sets that never had stickers (e.g. Blacktron)
would actually be okay.
About 2-3 weeks after listing the stickers we had them ALL removed overnight
by eBay who sent the following in an email:
""Your listing was reported by LEGO Juris A/S for using their brand name inappropriately.
eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme offers intellectual property owner(s)
a way to report listings that they believe infringe on their rights".
Which is annoying but if are infringing copyright then I understand the reasons.
However if you go to eBay and search for "Lego custom stickers", there are dozens
of sellers with literally hundreds of listings between them that are clearly
just copies of existing stickers sheets! So it's odd that we had our MOC
stickers removed (that were admittedly in the "theme" of existing Lego sets)
but you have plenty of other sellers that are blatantly just copying existing
stickers, but this is fine!
I'm not sure how VeRO works, whether it's automatic or if someone actually
has to manually report listings to eBay. Nor am I sure how so many other sellers
get away with it yet we had our listings removed when they were just in the Lego
theme and not direct copies?
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The others might not be "fine", just not reported. If you use the word lego but
also custom, you are likely to draw suspicion.
VERO is weird when it comes to things being removed. I had a job lot of second
hand Wilko Blox removed for copyright infringement. I didn't use LEGO anywhere
in the listing. eBay told me I had to prove I was an authorised seller of Wilko
Blox, and that if I relisted them my account would be suspended. So they went
on facebook instead.
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| | | | | Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | May 24, 2022 12:30 | | Subject: | Re: Copyright Issues With Custom MOC Stickers | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
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| Have you considered that not only LEGO is a trademarked name, Blacktron as a
name and as a logo is IP of LEGO as well. You are not allowed to use any of these,
nor are you allowed to monetize on anything that is related to their designs
(such as the Blacktron series).
In Announce, StickyBrickit writes:
| | Hi all,
So this isn't strictly a Bricklink issue but I thought the people on here
might have some insight. As well as selling on BL we also have an eBay store
and one of items we started selling was custom sticker sheets for Lego MOCs,
e.g. we do some Blacktron ones which include some of the standard Blacktron symbols
but a lot are our own design. Given how many people on eBay sell sticker sheets
that are basically like-for-like replacements of existing ones then we thought
that doing our own version for sets that never had stickers (e.g. Blacktron)
would actually be okay.
About 2-3 weeks after listing the stickers we had them ALL removed overnight
by eBay who sent the following in an email:
""Your listing was reported by LEGO Juris A/S for using their brand name inappropriately.
eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme offers intellectual property owner(s)
a way to report listings that they believe infringe on their rights".
Which is annoying but if are infringing copyright then I understand the reasons.
However if you go to eBay and search for "Lego custom stickers", there are dozens
of sellers with literally hundreds of listings between them that are clearly
just copies of existing stickers sheets! So it's odd that we had our MOC
stickers removed (that were admittedly in the "theme" of existing Lego sets)
but you have plenty of other sellers that are blatantly just copying existing
stickers, but this is fine!
I'm not sure how VeRO works, whether it's automatic or if someone actually
has to manually report listings to eBay. Nor am I sure how so many other sellers
get away with it yet we had our listings removed when they were just in the Lego
theme and not direct copies?
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United Kingdom, England
Sweden, Västra Götaland
Netherlands, Groningen