I frequently download pictures from ebay coins showing various doubled dies and RPMs. Are these pictures the property of the seller or are they freely available? Can they be posted on Cointalk? Forgive me if this has been discussed before...
No you can't just steal somebody's images. Under the Berne Convention (global copyright convention signed in the Swiss city - Google it), you own all rights from the moment of creation unless you explicitly grant them, regardless of whether the item is marked. Now the user agreement between the author and eBay may assign (grant) eBay certain rights, including the right to show the image, reuse it, perhaps even for other unrelated purposes (you would need to check the eBay user agreement). But it's unlikely to grant YOU rights to reuse the image. There is a concept in US Law called "Fair use" which is a limited exception for criticism, educational purposes and the like. Posting a image and comparing it to the original from HA.com (see how s/he juiced the image to hide the scratch) would -probably- qualify. If you are interested in sharing your own images, look up "Creative Commons" - it's a form of license (rights grant) that may interest you.
Thanks for the info... I assume it's OK to post a link to the ebay auction... what about a link to a webpage that shows pictures downloaded from ebay?
If the owner of a photo wanted to take issue, you would not be the one pursued, but the owner of the forum, who is kindly allowing us to use it. So if it isn't owned by you or unless you have written permission ( real name not internet name) to use it, then only use the URL to link. This may limit some, but let's be responsible. If you want to claim it is within copyright limitations, write to the owner of the photo. I guess one shouldn't care, but the owner of that webpage forum, should be asked if he was aware of its posting, but thats not my responsibility.
The simple solution is to just post a link to the ebay pics you want to share. That, is 100% legal. And it is permitted under our forum rules as long as the link is not to an active or current auction of your own. But you can even post links to your own ebay auctions as long as those auctions have ended, and contain no links to a re-listing of the item.
You would be hard pressed to find someone trying to shut down CoinTalk because you posted an image from someone else's site. It probably happens all over the web millions of times a day. Post whatever you like.
If you really want to fry your brain, try to figure out the legalities of someone posting a photo that is hosted on ebay...... I've never read the fine print on ebay, but I bet some where in their terms of service there is a statement that gives creative commons photo rights.
His question only concerned posting such photos on Cointalk. Suggesting people do wrong can lead to undesired results.
Zackly. Yes, we see lots of posts, here and elsewhere, with an image from an auction or sale, posted by the buyer who writes "this is what I just bought; has not arrived yet; image taken by the seller". Strictly speaking, even that is a violation of copyright, but one that a seller is unlikely to object to. A dealer would usually object to, and take legal action against, a competitor who uses somebody else's photo for his own business, without the photographer's consent. Some lawyers (I am not a law expert) may argue that a simple photo of a common coin is below the so-called threshold of originality, and would thus not be covered by copyright. Not a good idea though to assume that this applies to every coin photo which one "grabs". Bottom line: Post a link, or make sure you can use the image. Christian
CoinTalk does have forum rules regarding copyright. And we will and do remove or edit posts that we know, stress know, are in violation of copyright law. So no, you cannot just post whatever you like.
I'll be more specific next time. I meant in reference to eBay pictures, but figured everyone would have inferred that.
