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Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won |
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke |
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"If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands." Douglas Adams |
Last Updated February 1, 2011
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You will note that there are a lot of pundits who will tell you what you can and cannot do with
patterns,
licensed fabrics,
embroidered images,
pictures, and descriptions,
but none can point you to specific court cases or federal law that supports their
claims. We can and we do. What we find particularly galling are the people who make claims such as "designers can put restrictions
on use if they want" and "I think if it is actually printed on the fabric, you should respect the copyright wishes of the designer"
without considering the legal ramifications. Once the item is sold why should someone be able to control what you do with it?
The First Sale Doctrine says they can't.
But, there are some logical restrictions. You cannot misrepresent the item when you resell it, and so forth. We started these web pages in 2002 and we have
yet to have anyone provide us with court cases or federal law backing their false claims or refuting our claims. We have not had to remove a single
page or change a single expressed opinion. Zero in over eight years.
Some people have expressed their distaste for some of the language used when we describe some of the members. We find most of these critics to be sympathetic to the individual and companies enshrined as they seem to agree with the unethical and unlawful approach taken by the abusers. Consider this: count the number of lawyers, individuals and companies we criticize here, and ask, "If we are lying, or quoting out of context, or fabricating information, why haven't we been sued?" We post comments by critics and "Cease & Desist" letters received by lawyers representing members. Every cease and desist letter we have received is posted there. There are a variety of companies that interfere with the legitimate operation of small home-based businesses. These companies use legal jargon and various maneuvers to illegally shut down mom and pop businesses that have not violated any laws. Note we say "mom and pop businesses". These people rarely go after big businesses that can afford to engage them in the legal arena. Why? Because they will lose. We would also like to acknowledge that there are businesses that are legitimately engaged in the lawful protection of their rights. However, far too many companies have adopted the strategy of attacking eBay and other online auctions to show their muscle. eBay and other internet sellers are easy targets. Most are small businesses that can't afford to fight back even when they have done nothing wrong. Legal representation is expensive even for small problems. The big law firms do not really care about these case because they do not generate the same sympathic points as other pro bono cases. Large law firms salivate over intellectual property cases because they generate really good revenue.
It's been our experience that the lawyers who represent these companies are either ignorant, just plain indifferent to case histories and present law, or lie their collective asses off in order to promote the improper and illegal activities of their clients. We have run up against more than one of these lawyers. They use their position to twist the wording, not the intent, of the law to the absolute favor of the clients with a total disregard for the rights of others and the wording and intent of the law. The companies, lawyers, and individuals enshrined here are so because, in our opinion, they deserve it. The lawyers, and companies, won't back off because they have the power of intimidation and the Force of VeRO (the Dark Side) behind them. They actually seem to enjoy beating the small seller down. They don't care about the reality of the free market place. They won't back off until confronted by a federal lawsuit filed against them. We should point out that not all actions taken by VeRO members are illegal. There are cases of infringement that are terminated and should have been terminated. It is the many abuses, way too many abuses, that are the issue. In our opinion, these companies deserve to be in Tabberone's Trademark And Copyright Abusers' Hall Of Shame because they are, or have, used what we believe are highly questionable, or down-right illegal, tactics to interfere with what we feel are legitimate auctions or actions. In some cases, the lawyer is inducted as a co-member. Outlets that distribute what we feel is distorted and/or incorrect information, passing it off as law, concerning trademarks and copyrights are included as well. One publication giving its readers false information damages countless innocent users because the incorrect interpretation gets passed along to others.
Compare this: If one in every twenty persons arrested and sent to jail were innocent, and the government knew this, and the government took no action to prevent this, the people would be outraged. That's 5%. One in twenty. One study estimated that up to 30% of all eBay auction terminations under the VeRO Program are questionable and probably improper. Think about it. eBay knows and does nothing. In March 2009, Google filed a statement with the parliamentary authorities in New Zealand stating that 57% of takedowns under the DMCA are from competitors and 37% of takedown notices under the DCMA are invalid copyright claims. Most of these companies are brought to our attention by people who have been hurt by them or who have questions about the policies of the companies. Some we added ourselves. If you have nominations for Tabberone's Trademark And Copyright Abusers' Hall Of Shame feel free to contact us. We do require authentication concerning any alleged transgressions and not every company nominated ends up in Tabberone's Trademark And Copyright Abusers' Hall Of Shame. This listing is but a few of what we call abusers who are lurking on the internet violating the rights of others or attempting to control the secondary market with highly questionable activities and false statements of authority. These are just the ones about which we have heard. Imagine how many more abuses there are out there every day that avoid the recognition they so richly deserve.
Alphabetically listed. |
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More To Come. So many VeRO Members (and their law firms), so few with integrity. |
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| The Putrid Plecostomus Award to those corporate lawyers and coprporate law firms that go above and beyond the call of duty zealously protecing the rights' of the clients while pointedly ignoring the legitmate rights of sellers. We lovingly call them "bottom feeders". |
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 Just Shine the Cat Light |
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Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site. If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion. |
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General Articles | Cease and Desist Letters | Federal Court Cases | FAQs & Whines | Glossary | Hall Of Shame | Contributions
Corporate Lawyers |
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Definitions |
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Federal Court Cases Alphabetically | by Federal Circuit | by Subject | by Court Quotations |
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Federal Statutes Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. 5 | Digital Millenium Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. 12 | Lanham Act 15 U.S.C. 22 |
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VeRO (Verified Right's Owner Program) VeRO Commandments | VeRO-Verified Rights Owners Program | Counter Notice Letter Counter Notice (pre-2003) | Counter Notice present | On-Line Survey from 2004 | Articles about VeRO | What To Do If You Are Veroed |
| Original material by Karen Dudnikov & Michael Meadors is © 1999-2011 |
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