copyright infringment on ebay again - please don't buy from The Spirit Room

I don't see it as manipulative. I see it as using what may be the only path available to warn others that these people are dishonest. If that's the only way to make a comment on them, then I would argue that it IS working the system. hehe. But seriosuly, I'm sure a lot of people not on tribe buy from them and I would certainly want to know.

Oh, Palika, have you tried sending them a "cease and desist"? The threat of legal action may shake them up a bit. They would have no way to know whether or not you would be able to see it through. Here's a link to a template (there are more out there): www.propeller.com/viewstory...st-letter/

Lovely.

I sent them a message asking to take my photo down. We'll see what they say, if anything. There is a way to report unauthorized photos on eBay, but it seems is geared towards one seller stealing photos from other sellers, as the form asks for item numbers rather than links. I suppose if you need to, you could try puting a link to the stolen photo in the description field instead of an item #.

oh..hmmmm...that didn't occur to me. I'm not an Ebayer. That would definitely suck. Point taken. :)

I feel like I have to comment on this thread. First let me say that there are multiple ways to contact a seller without purchasing something, which palika said in her first thread she did not do. She instead contacted ebay, and then the group mistook what she said about Ebay as The Spirit Room having bad customer service - when she never even tried to contact them. Let's not burn the seller at the stake yet ladies!
When you have a conflict with someone, how about contacting them directly, instead of calling the 'police'.
Perhaps the spirit room did use your image or perhaps it was someone else's image that just looks remarkably like yours. Can you really be sure? Or, even if it is totally your image, why did you not try to contact the spirit room directly, instead of starting a nasty thread. What economic hardship is the use of the photo causing palika anyway? If she had contact the seller right away and explained the situation, I am sure they would not only have removed the photo, but sent her a gift to make her feel better. In these times of recession, is it really doing something good, attacking someone you have never even tried to contact, trying to stir up a hornets nest and rallying everyone you can to stop buying from a seller of excellent reputation - over a photo? Let's be fair.
I know this seller, and have purchased MANY, MANY items from her. She is a good and honest person, and a VERY fair business person. Almost everyone I know has shopped with her and RAVED about the deals they have gotten, and glowed about the customer service. Items they have seen at festivals for 3 and 4 times the cost, they have purchased for pennies on the dollar! She always gives you some beautiful thing for free when you purchase a bulk of items from her. I have never seen one of her items for more than 'the going rate', it is usually far below.
Now, as far as shipping costs go, if you have never run an ebay business before, let me expand your mind. If you run down to the post office, and send that item you purchased thru the mail, no it is not going to be 9$ to send it. Part of the fee is a service fee. It covers the endless amount of running back and forth to the post office, the postage, the endless emails answering questions, complaints, etc from buyers, the boxes, the tape, the packing materials, the fees it cost to sell the item, the EVERYTHING that a seller goes thru to offer good service. And the spirit room has excellent service.
And, although I prefer to buy my Melo's straight from the source, there are dozens if not hundreds of people selling knock-off's. The Spirit Room did not go to India and request some factory to start making flared leg jazz pants. They were on line for the purchasing. So, the problem here is most likely the company that Melodia uses is selling knock-off's based on her designs to whomever will purchase them. The problem there lies with the factory, and whatever agreement they made with Melodia. So, if you have a problem with that, buy your pants straight from Melodia and not from any of the hundred other people making or selling 'faux-lodias'. Or how about the endless 'corset belts' you see everyone selling. How about only buying from Tempest, or have you had one of your girlfriends whip you one up on her sewing machine for 20 bucks? Where are we crossing that line? How many "intellectual properties" are we going to stand up and protect? How about all the "me-too" troupes who just copy the latest moves and fads from the popular professionals?
I would encourage each of you to find out all the details of a situation before you jump on the "let's-get-'em" bandwagon.
One of the things that makes us human is the ability to copy and mimic others. That is why we as a species are exploring space while our ape cousins still live in trees.