Apple legal not amused by Steve Jobs figurine, halts $1,125 eBay sale
Apple's legal team has taken apparently interest in sales of Steve Jobs figurines on eBay, canceling one listing that went to the highest bidder for $1,125.
A Canadian eBay seller contacted AppleInsider on Tuesday to share that they had sold a popular, rare Steve Jobs figurine on the bidding site. It went for a final price of $1,125, but eBay soon after allegedly canceled the listing.
A note from eBay indicated that the website had removed the listing due to a complaint received directly from Apple. It was said that the object "violates a celebrity's right of publicity."
"The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, Apple Inc., notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights," the letter reads. "When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law."
That particular listing is no longer available on eBay. However, some figurines remain available for sale on eBay, calling into question whether Apple's legal action was an isolated incident, or evidence of a coming crackdown.
One listing on eBay reads "APPLE HAD ALL STEVE JOBS ACTION FIGURE AUCTIONS REMOVED! BUY IT NOW SO YOU CAN GET ONE! HURRY! NO GUARANTEE THAT THIS AUCTION WILL RUN A FULL DAY!"
The Steve Jobs figurine gained attention over the weekend, when one of them apparently sold on eBay for $2,500. The website MIC Gadget began selling them in November, but was promptly sent a cease and desist letter from Apple.
Apple's complaint to the website cited California Civil Code Section 3344, "which prohibits the use of any person's name, photograph or likeness in a product without that person's prior consent."
Source: eBay
The figurine shows Apple's chief executive in his trademark black mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. He is shown holding up an iPhone, and is standing on a white Apple logo.
A charismatic figure who has legions of fans, Jobs is also very secretive with regards to his personal life. When Jobs experienced health troubles in recent years, he insisted that his condition was a "private matter."
A Canadian eBay seller contacted AppleInsider on Tuesday to share that they had sold a popular, rare Steve Jobs figurine on the bidding site. It went for a final price of $1,125, but eBay soon after allegedly canceled the listing.
A note from eBay indicated that the website had removed the listing due to a complaint received directly from Apple. It was said that the object "violates a celebrity's right of publicity."
"The rights owner or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner, Apple Inc., notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights," the letter reads. "When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law."
That particular listing is no longer available on eBay. However, some figurines remain available for sale on eBay, calling into question whether Apple's legal action was an isolated incident, or evidence of a coming crackdown.
One listing on eBay reads "APPLE HAD ALL STEVE JOBS ACTION FIGURE AUCTIONS REMOVED! BUY IT NOW SO YOU CAN GET ONE! HURRY! NO GUARANTEE THAT THIS AUCTION WILL RUN A FULL DAY!"
The Steve Jobs figurine gained attention over the weekend, when one of them apparently sold on eBay for $2,500. The website MIC Gadget began selling them in November, but was promptly sent a cease and desist letter from Apple.
Apple's complaint to the website cited California Civil Code Section 3344, "which prohibits the use of any person's name, photograph or likeness in a product without that person's prior consent."
Source: eBay
The figurine shows Apple's chief executive in his trademark black mock turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. He is shown holding up an iPhone, and is standing on a white Apple logo.
A charismatic figure who has legions of fans, Jobs is also very secretive with regards to his personal life. When Jobs experienced health troubles in recent years, he insisted that his condition was a "private matter."
Comments
"violates a celebrity's right of publicity."
Isn't publicity what every celebrity desires??!
Apple's complaint to the website cited California Civil Code Section 3344, "which prohibits the use of any person's name, photograph or likeness in a product without that person's prior consent."
Hasn't Steve learned that laws don't matter! Health care not in the Constitution and a congressman says he doesn't care about the Constitution. Give you two guesses which party! Head of the IRS and Chairman of Ways and Means oversee projects that are far above their level to comprehend.
A charismatic figure who has legions of fans, Jobs is also very secretive with regards to his personal life. When Jobs experienced health troubles in recent years, he insisted that his condition was a "private matter."
"private matter" - And yet it was only now that Apple took down the Wikileaks app? Incredible?!
If Steve Jobs were a famous actor, he could sue for an injunction against others profiting from his likeness without his permission. But he's a CEO, he gets paid $1 a year, and although he's a top-notch showman, he doesn't get paid for it.
He likes control.
And raising the asking price for products with an Apple logo.
Isn't publicity what every celebrity desires??!
I think company executives are exempt from this to some extent though. TV and movie celebrities promote themselves heavily because they are the product they sell. Although Steve has said things like he 'wants to put a ding in the universe', I don't think it's that he wants his own identity to be that ding but what he does.
I kind of get that impression about all of the top people at Apple. They seem very private and are mainly passionate about what they do. We know very little about them and it's not a bad thing. Some people want their privacy and as individuals who don't promote themselves, I think they deserve it just as we would expect to.
It's easy to get into the frame of mind that people like Steve are different from people you see every day but they aren't. I don't think I'd like strangers to have plastic replicas of me in their house especially if the replica wasn't up to my standard. Those models don't look that good at all.
They could of course be planning to make future Mac recovery disks like this and they just want to kill the competition. The iMiniMe.
"private matter" - And yet it was only now that Apple took down the Wikileaks app? Incredible?!
Hello. Thanks for bringing in something that not only has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with what you've quoted, but is only intended to raise ire and pick up this train of conversation and throw it into the Pacific. Please don't post again until you've come up with something that makes sense within the context of this thread.
I mean, HONESTLY.
To be on-topic myself, health is a private matter. That Steve was sick should have been accurately and honestly reported as a function of his requirements as an executive and to the company. However, you (meaning anyone outside his family, facilities, and friends) have absolutely no right to know with what he is sick, much less have a 'play-by-play' on his recovery.
lol
big fan here.
I think someone has handed you an opportunity to make some real money to donate towards a transplant education fund. Come'on, you can work out some angle here that will make a lot of money , and you get to humble yourself and be a good sport for a good cause.
You can gronk that, can't ya?
Apple defends its logo pretty vigorously. That's why they want to stop sales of the figurine.
They do, do that.
If Steve Jobs were a famous actor, he could sue for an injunction against others profiting from his likeness without his permission. But he's a CEO, he gets paid $1 a year, and although he's a top-notch showman, he doesn't get paid for it.
It doesn't matter what they do for a living, you can be flipping burgers at Burger King but still have rights to your likeness. This is something people don't understand. Think about it why is modeling such a big business, not just for fashion but any sort of marketing.
Hello Steve Jobs,
big fan here.
I think someone has handed you an opportunity to make some real money to donate towards a transplant education fund. Come'on, you can work out some angle here that will make a lot of money , and you get to humble yourself and be a good sport for a good cause.
You can gronk that, can't ya?
Good idea, but you probably mean "Grok" ...
We will review the listing(s) you have reported for violations of our
Potentially Infringing Items policies. In order to keep eBay a safe and
fun place to trade, we often rely on members like you to bring such
violations to our attention.
In light of our privacy policy, we cannot share with you any action
taken by eBay with respect to this listing. If we determine that the
listing violates eBay policy, we may:
1. Send the seller an informational alert;
2. Remove the listing; or
3. Suspend the seller.
Account suspensions are usually reserved for those sellers that
repeatedly disregard policy.
If the item you reported does not appear on its face to be infringing,
we may refer it to the intellectual property rights owner for review. If
the rights owner has a good faith belief that the item is infringing,
they may choose to send eBay a formal request to remove the listing. For
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One defense that seems easy in this case is defending the figurine as parody, which enjoys a special protection thanks to case law (court rulings). I think that it would be a slam-dunk to argue that parodying Jobs as the swell-headed, iPhone hawking huckster portrayed by the figurines was a form parody and, thus, constitutionally protected.
Obviously, you are not a lawyer. You have the right of free speech confused with property rights.
At least I hope you're not a lawyer, please tell me you are not.
Apple defends its logo pretty vigorously. That's why they want to stop sales of the figurine.
If Steve Jobs were a famous actor, he could sue for an injunction against others profiting from his likeness without his permission. But he's a CEO, he gets paid $1 a year, and although he's a top-notch showman, he doesn't get paid for it.
In my opinion, the logo issue is (or should be) more significant than the likeness, though the likeness issue shouldn't be ignored. Given that a California law has been cited for this in a previous story, and eBay is based in California, they probably have to cancel because of the likeness issue as well.
The odd thing is, the posted note explaining the cancellation only mentions the "celebrity's right of publicity", not the trademarked logo. The formatting is such that it implies support for more than one reason for cancellation in the message, but only one was given.
Imagine if it were a Steve Ballmer goatse figurine though? You could store your paperclips and stuff in there and it'd make a nice conversation piece at the office. Maybe they could bundle them with brown Zunes.
Obviously, you are not a lawyer. You have the right of free speech confused with property rights.
At least I hope you're not a lawyer, please tell me you are not.
No, I am not a lawyer, but I have a very keen understanding of the law -- which you obviously do not. Why do you think that parody songs can be sold for profit without any royalties being paid to the original artist who wrote the melody? Are you even aware of the Supreme Court case brought against the creators of a commercial parody of Gone With The Wind? The court sided with the parody creators. You ought to do some reading before you post silly things like that.
As a long time eBay member, I reported two of the Steve Jobs Figure auctions as being in violation of eBay Infringement policies. It's not in eBay's best interest to allow counterfeit or unlicensed items to be auctioned. Other members likely filed complaints as well. The following is the content of eBay's email to me:
We will review the listing(s) you have reported for violations of our
Potentially Infringing Items policies. In order to keep eBay a safe and
fun place to trade, we often rely on members like you to bring such
violations to our attention.
In light of our privacy policy, we cannot share with you any action
taken by eBay with respect to this listing. If we determine that the
listing violates eBay policy, we may:
1. Send the seller an informational alert;
2. Remove the listing; or
3. Suspend the seller.
Account suspensions are usually reserved for those sellers that
repeatedly disregard policy.
If the item you reported does not appear on its face to be infringing,
we may refer it to the intellectual property rights owner for review. If
the rights owner has a good faith belief that the item is infringing,
they may choose to send eBay a formal request to remove the listing. For
more information on eBay's cooperation with rights owners, please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidenc...s-vero-ov.html
For more information on eBay's Potentially Infringing Items policies,
please visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/item_allowed.html
In order for us to get to you in a timely manner, please do not respond
to this email. If you reply to this message we will not receive your
email. All communications should be sent through the link provided
above.
Thank you for your report.
Regards,
The eBay Community Watch Team
I hope you get a merrit badge from Steve himself!!!
Isn't publicity what every celebrity desires??!
Yes, but outside of news items, they reserve the right to control who makes money off their name or image
Remember that Hollywood is a big industry in Cali. Without these kinds of laws, actors can't secure their living. Without that control I could, for example, make a digital version of the kid from Twilight, digitally recreate his voice etc and put him in as many movies as I wish. And he couldn't stop me. I could amass a not so small fortune off all the Twifreaks that folk to see him.
In the case of do nothing Celebs, control of their likeness is even more important because that literally is their living.