interesting item out of China (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

It might also help if you understood the concept of defamation which in this case means libel. Who is being defamed here? The Chinese seller? When you put your goods for sale on a public site, you have a higher standard in order to prove libel, than just your garden variety case of libel. It might be wise to a little brushing up on the law :wink2:

 

[Vicknor]

What an interesting thread.

Certainly the only person that COULD be experiencing defamation/libel here is the Chinese seller.

With regards to copyright IP infringement, then without contractual confines being made public, then the balance of ownership lies with the Chinese seller.

However, truth be told, I'm sure we all know what's going on.

My 14 years here suggest that; 'Why would anyone be surprised?'

 

[Horus]

Piracy is everybody's problem. It is not just a manufacturer's, it is also the public's. Piracy devalues legitimate goods and costs money. It takes money from the creator and owner of a product and gives it to a thief, thereby increasing costs for legitimate goods. Although no one can accuse a buyer of complicity if he bought it in good faith, not knowing it was a pirated product, if the buyer purchases a pirated product, knowing it was a pirated product, the buyer is no different than the pirate himself. He is a thief.

Looking at it from a collectors point, if you collect FL figures, as it is FL figures being discussed, but could at some future date apply to other brands. Then with fakes coming onto the market yours and mine that we as collectors may have paid full price for, the fact that fakes exist then will diminish what resale value they might have in the first place and since many bemoan the fact that the resale value of their collection is small compared with what was paid for it with fakes about then it will be getting smaller.
Things can change and though we may think we'd never part with our collections, something may happen that forces you too and that's when it would really hurt.
Steve

 

[FirstLegion]

It seems to me that this is a First Legion problem..Why are we to do all the leg work to complain to Ebay, resist buying the figures, being called immoral if we buy the figures, etc. etc. etc. If the mfg. cannot control his factories that he chose to use, then why are we required to be the mfg. policeman. It is up to the offended party to deal with it. For all we know, these are authentic figures, but being sold outside the mfg. control to set prices, etc. Again, up to them to deal with the supposed crime, not us..Michael

If this is the perspective of collectors, then I see no point in commenting on this further. Shouldn't matter to you in the slightest that we've spent 10 years of our lives working our ***** off to build something from nothing and someone is essentially stealing from us. Hey, if you can get a few figures (or reject figures) for $15 or whatever cheaper that's a big win for you I guess. What do you care if we have families and count on the business that we've built to take care of them. Right, got it Michael. 'nuff said on this.

 

[maddadicus]

If these are Figures made at the plant making the legit FL figures, and they are unauthorized, they are essentially stolen goods from FL.

If they are being made elsewhere by making molds of current figures, they are counterfeit.

I personally will not be buying either.

I'm surprised the mere fact that they would come from the right factory makes people think they are legal.

And as to authentic.... Can only be authentic if they were authorized.

Zach, that is not the issue for me.. I would not buy them either, but we are being asked to handle it. If these are not authorized, then any mfg. has the right to challenge the seller, move heaven and earth to deal with it, not inform us that we might be crooks, immoral, complicite with the seller, etc. ,etc. IF WE EVEN CONSIDER BUYING ANYTHING FROM THIS SELLER. He also has other mfg. figures listed. Are they fraudulent? What do the other mfg. think about this seller? Their silence is deafening..Michael

 

[FirstLegion]

Zach, that is not the issue for me.. I would not buy them either, but we are being asked to handle it.

No one asked you to handle anything that I'm aware of, I certainly didn't. In my previous post when I said "contacting ebay" I meant us, not you. I simply pointed out that they are unauthorized figures, what you or anyone else does with that information is entirely up to you. In your last post you said "For all we know, these are authentic figures, but being sold outside the mfg. control to set prices, etc." This is asinine.

And now I'm really done with this conversation.

 

[tdubel]

Don't really want to get into this about anything other than it is. Country Honor was found to be outrightly copying and stealing poses, sculpts, etc and bringing them to market. Basically, there were Chinese copies sold under the auspices of a "Brand". Fraud. No ifs ands or buts about it and they disappeared from the market when called to the carpet. Now, I think what Matt is saying has also been said by Andy of K&C and Rick from Figarti, they always had a problem with leakage from factories and the goods appearing in street markets, ebay, etc. Basically stolen figures. Now, I can't with any validity opine on this ebay seller, but if one of the manufacturers, ie First Legion (Matt) in this case is saying they are unauthorized, then I would bet they are, he would know. Therefore, me personally, will not be buying anything from this seller.

TD