eBay VeRO & Change in Copyright Owner

[davidstarcher]

My jurisdiction is: WA

For the sake of privacy I will just call the two companies A and B. I received a takedown notice on June 1st for 2 of my auctions on allegations that it infringed on the copyrights of Company A. I do not agree with their claim. In my discourse with a lawyer for Company A I was told that I must take up the issue with Company B because they had sold the intellectual property in question and it was now owned by Company B "as of June 1". I have since verified with eBay that the Notice of Claimed Infringement (NOCI) was submitted to them on June 1st, the same day I received notice. I have two questions about this matter 1) Since Company A made the complaint on the same day in which the intellectual property was now legally owned by Company B is the takedown notice even valid? 2) Since company A made the complaint even though it was no longer the copyright owner at the time do I need to deal with Company B who acquired the rights to have the notice retracted or is it solely the responsibility of Company A?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Interesting. Why would company A bother wasting its time and money sending the notice? If this were me, I would reply to the company that forwarded you the DMCA takedown notice a counter reply and also include at the top that the company has mistakenly sent the notice for materials which it is not an owner. Instructions for creating a counter reply are here - a new addition to our legal guides.

You won't have to deal with company B unless they complain. I have no idea whether or not there is even a copyright issue and, if company A has no right to act since it does not own the materials, then your guess is correct - it has no cause of action nor cause to complain! Good luck.