Piracy on two counts

[Cyberus]

Not only copyrighted software (the sticking point being the fact that the guy's SELLING it), but he even half-inched the A.Org logo!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=98929&item=8208728157&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Coolit]

I noticed this the other day Some guys on the English Amiga Board a while ago were talking about the piracy on eBay. They reported it to eBay and I think it was removed from the listings.

I guess it’s up to the webmaster to ask eBay to remove the Amiga.org banner if he wants to, I certainly would. I think there’s more than one guy using the banner on eBay btw.

Edit:Another Logo Thief!

[AmiKit]

unbelievable :shocked:

[Roj]

It's only a valid issue if Amiga.org has specific permission to use the logos in the first place. I'm not saying they do or don't but that's the first point that comes to mind. If AO doesn't have any specific permission then they have no rights of any type regarding ownership and are as much at fault as the eBay "pirates".

I'm probably alone in this, and that's fine, but I always laugh a little when someone makes their work readily available in a public place and then jumps up and down screaming bloody murder when it's copied. I've had several works of my own used by others, and in one specific case, by a competitor in direct competition with my own services. What can I do? Cry? Yell? Curse almighty God in heaven? I could, but that's about all the vindication I could scrape off. Otherwise, it's best just to accept it and move along. If you don't want your stuff copied, don't use a medium that you know full well is designed in part for that very purpose.

Get my drift, Spiff :-)?

[NoFastMem]

Yeah, it's a little annoying, but I really doubt Amiga.org would have the grounds to complain about it.

The piracy itself is a genuine concern. Not just from a moral/economical standpoint but also from mental health standpoint. Five DVDs, presumably home burns? Even with the cheapest media I doubt anyone's on the path to great riches selling this stuff.

[mbueler]

these 5 dvd`s were on ebay about a month or two ago.
the MF had nightlong,myst,quake ect. all the best games and more on it.I HOPE HE GET`s BUSTED !
 :pissed:  :pissed:  :pissed:

[SyrTran]

@Roj

IANAL (and this isn't /. ;-)), but...

While the multicolored checkmark is obviously an Amiga logo, the letter A, checkered ball, and tilted red square -individually - are probably not copyrightable (but definitely trademarks).  However, the specific combination of the four is unique to this site, and are probably protected as an unregistered copyright.

I've had several works of my own used by others, and in one specific case, by a competitor in direct competition with my own services. What can I do? Cry? Yell? Curse almighty God in heaven? I could, but that's about all the vindication I could scrape off. Otherwise, it's best just to accept it and move along.

What you could do is talk to a good copyright lawyer.  As you are in the US, you should be aware that the US no longer requires an original work to be registered in order to be protected under copyright laws.  All it requires is for it to be published.  Again, no legal training here, but I would think putting something on a website would qualify as published.

This pirate has been reported, as it is a violation of International Trademark and copyright laws.  

For the record, the Amiga.org logo is copyright 1995 to present by me, see the Wayback machine for example of first use dated 4/27/1995.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!  We also have consent from Gateway Inc, dated 9/21/98 and Amiga Inc, the current holders of the trademarks for the boing ball to use it, dated 1/19/2000.  

Our use for the trademarked boing ball is limited to the Amiga.org Website only. The Amiga.org logo MAY NOT, in ANY CONDITION be used without express prior written consent.

What worries me is that the logo being displayed is ripped directly off of a proof file (300dpi original) that I have only shared with 3 people in the entire history of this site.  How it got in the hands of this pirate is beyond me.

Wayne

[Effy]

Could it be a low quality picture enhanced with a drawning program  :-?

[whabang]

The images are clearly derived from a larger source. The uneven edges prove it, and can also rule out the possibility that someone made the image with a vector graphics program (edges to blurry. Either it was a really big source, or the delinquent used a pretty crappy image editor.

Hopefully the latter.

[NoFastMem]

@Wayne

Apolgies for my assumptions. :oops:



I remember seeing something similar to this in the gallery at one point. I'm not sure if it's the same though.

[CodePoet]

@NoFastMem - Love the avatar, really brings back memories lol

[Animagic]

Wayne

if you try google images and type amigaorg you will get LOTS of pics like this:

http://pingu.ii.uj.edu.pl/~armo/homepage/amigallery/pix/amigaorg_1.jpg

!!!!!!!!!!!

So, somebody posted your 300 dpi somewhere and it travelled the world through the net...  :-o

[gafstu]

Ebay dont seem to care about the selling of amiga software.  Auctions containing such things rarely seem to be removed by their administrators.....

[bloodline]

I think that the fact that everything "Amiga" can be obtained on 5 little polycarbonate discs is far more disturbing...