Its exactly right to say the eBay doesn't want to get into the middle of any
sort of dispute so it sets up a program that simply passes on the dispute. And
of course they charge the VERO (Verified Rights) people to do this, so its good
income stream ?for them to have this program.
?? ?What I think would work is for one of us who has been so affected to send a
letter to Mara Corday's handlers from one our Lawyers pointing out the relevant
law and darkly threatening some sort of "action" if she doesn't stop abusing
her rights. That is one way EBay shifts the costs of doing business back on us.
What I object to is eBay threatening us with violations that drop our listing
presence and potentially kick us off eBay. I bet that has not ever happened
since that action would force a lawsuit from me. eBay is just trying to push us
to sue the Corday estate.
?? ?Without this penalty from EBay most of us would just shrug when they remove
a listing. But hurting our standing with EBay is another story.
?? Lawsuits are expensive. Minimum cost to initiate a minor case like this is
$25,000. Even defending yourself from a lawsuit can cost that much. So the
stakes have to be pretty high to really get into it legally.?
?? That's why you don't see a lot of stars doing this, they talk with their
lawyers and they realize it can become an ungodly mess and there is no up side
- you won't make any money and it costs too much to start suing a lot of
people. All you do will hurt your reputation (which is all some of these people
have).
?? So the real question is: Can the sellers on MOPO get together and form some
sort of group that will help defend the selling industry against this sort of
nonsense?
?? The cost of a series of letters by a lawyer is about $200 to $500 (I checked
this out with my lawyer). I have had my own listings removed. I have standing
in this dispute. I'd be happy to pay for half the cost of such a letter if the
other sellers would be willing to contribute the other half.
?? Remember a letter like this is just an opening gun. It doesn't mean a law
suit. All it will do is hopefully force the other party to come to their senses
and go to their lawyer and learn what their actual rights are.
Maybe we can call the group the Mara Corday Appreciation Society (MCAS) just
for grins.
Cory Glaberson
cglaber...@aol.com
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