Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Can they list my personal property for sale?

I sell used, out-of-print and antiquarian books online at 3 different venues. There are 3-4 booksellers who ''lift'' my (and other sellers') online listings (sometimes using our word for word descriptions) and list them on another selling venue at an inflated price. Can they legally list my personal property for sale as their own?

All sellers are required to agree that they ''may not list any item or link or post any related material that (a) infringes any third-party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights or (c) is counterfeited, illegal, stolen, or fraudulent.


Asked on 1/08/06, 10:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Roger Traversa Arjont Group (Law Office of Roger Traversa)

Re: Can they list my personal property for sale?

Quick answer is no. But as is usaul, we lawyers must always provide a much more complicated answer. There is a general and automatic copyright in any creative material once it is in a fixed medium (electronic versions are considered fixed). It could be said that your descriptions are creative and copyrightable.

The question comes in if there is an exception or exemption to the rule. If the text is factually accurate and contains little or no "creative" content then there may be a license to use the material as a factual description. In other words, I can copy and republish the inforamtion out of a phone book without infringing any rights because it is factual.

I would be willing to represent you in pursuing your alternatives against the alleged infringers.

Please contact me at [email protected] to arrange either a face to face or virtual meeting.

Regards,

Roger Traversa

[email protected]

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Answered on 1/08/06, 12:37 pm


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