YOUR ETSY CONTENT TEAM AT WORK
Edi has had a store on Etsy for three years. Her store is called I Love Trash, and she sells vintage clothing and odd finds.
Recently, she listed this old record:
The record is vintage and in good shape, and doesn’t violate the TOS. So naturally, Etsy sent her the following notice:
Now, copyright law is complicated, and there are areas that can be a little murky. But I’m pretty sure you can sell a 30-year old, out-of-print album without written permission from the record label.
But let’s just say I’m wrong about that, and you do have to get authorization from the copyright holder to sell vintage records. Let’s just say that all those hours of Law & Order were wasted, and I know nothing about the legal system.
Chuck Norris is not the copyright holder of Mr. T’s Commandments. Chuck Norris isn’t even on this album. Mr. T is doing all the heavy lifting with the Jesus stuff, and Carlos is doing karate moves and sending strongly-worded letters to Etsy sellers.
At this point, Edi thought it might be helpful to explain the misunderstanding to Etsy.
And this was their reply:
MEANWHILE, IN WILLIAMSBURG…
April 20, 2012 at 9:34 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHt49t6EC_4
First quote.
April 20, 2012 at 9:48 am
Ouch…well, I thought it was funny. I guess if you have to explain it, it’s not. Oh well… I still love you guys anyway!
April 20, 2012 at 10:28 am
Haha! I liked it
“I’ve been put in charge of arts and crafts.” xD.
April 20, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Yay! Go community go! I love it when the tide is turned and a misunderstood post is saved and returned to its place of awesome!
April 20, 2012 at 10:29 am
Nah you just had the bad luck of being first comment, this kind of thing would have been more acceptable further down the line. I for one thought it was hilarious.
April 20, 2012 at 11:09 am
I thought it was very funny and appropriate. Doesn’t matter where on the thread it is!
*hugs BGS and gives ear scritches*
April 20, 2012 at 11:31 am
*licking Mugsy’s orange fingers clean*
April 20, 2012 at 11:34 am
*eyes dart around nervously, looking for hidden camera, reapplies lipstick just in case*
Orange fingers?!?!? How did you know this FJL was sitting here eating Cheetos????
April 20, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Cheetos?!?! Did you bring enough for everyone, missy???
(I prefer fried to a crackly crunch, but I will accept baked to a delicate crunch as well.)
Waitaminnit, does Chuck Norris eat Cheetos? Cos I don’t need any legal hassle right now.
April 20, 2012 at 12:50 pm
DC: I just this minute got back from Trader Joe’s with a big bag of baked crunchy ones. Haven’t tried them yet, so I can’t say what they’re like. Was going to wait until after lunch to try them, but I see I’m the only one having a late lunch.
*passes around bag to DC*
April 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Oh yay! These Thinny Chips from Jimmy John’s suck it…
April 20, 2012 at 3:58 pm
These LOOK like fried crunchy Cheetos.
As for TASTE, remember when they sold bacon-flavored Cheetos in the early 80s? They were awesome. These aren’t anything like them.
These are more like how once in a while you find a Cheeto (or a Cheez Doodle) that missed the fluourescent-orange bath and is naked and you eat it and it just has a bland corn flavor to it? These have a very faint cheese taste.
If you eat the entire 7-ounce bag, you’ll have consumed 35% of your daily saturated fat, so that should give you a clue
April 20, 2012 at 8:08 pm
I had to get cheetos because of this. And I got the last ones in the dorm vending machine! W00T!!!
April 20, 2012 at 8:10 pm
http://www.etsy.com/search/?ref=auto1&q=cheetos&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US
Oh my God, the sloth!
April 20, 2012 at 11:17 am
You got thumbed down by knee-jerkers who lack the attention span to figure out that “first” refers to Mr. T’s first quote in the video, not being the first commenter. Let’s thumb it back up.
April 20, 2012 at 11:30 am
Oh yeah…I did not mean that like a troll going “first”…I meant listen to the first quote of the youtube video. I am glad someone figured that out. I am kind of slow on the uptake, but I know better than to pull the trollish “first” type of posts… This is why I love you guys! Having the brains while I stare at my hand.
April 20, 2012 at 11:39 am
FirstMy first reading of your post was what you intended–you were pointing out the first quote on the video. Funny, though, that yesterday I was thinking that no one has done a “First!” post in ages…and now, they still haven’t!Second, what is your hand doing that you’re staring at it? >O.O<
April 20, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Never heard of auto-voyeurism?
(Is that actully a thing? It probably is, isn’t it? Everything is a thing.)
April 20, 2012 at 9:34 am
14,314 for Twilight. 40,817 for Disney.
April 20, 2012 at 10:09 am
30 for Chuck Norris. Including Chuck punching a bear.
April 20, 2012 at 10:26 am
Did the bear give express written permission to have his body and image used in that way? Was it consensual?
I’m calling PETA right now and they’ll get on Etsy’s
assbackside.NOTE: No harm toward an ass was implied or encouraged in this post.
April 20, 2012 at 10:25 am
You’d think Disney would be all over that shit
April 20, 2012 at 10:57 am
I actually was forced to take down a vintage mello smello scratch and sniff sticker from my 80′s sticker shop because it was a perfume sticker mocking Chan(n)el #5. I mean c’mon, it’s not like I created and marked the sticker back in the 80′s. I’m guessing the reason Etsy doesn’t take down things like the Hunger Games items is because the film company would never complain about free promotion and/or, as with Twilight, Etsy stands to make a butt-truck of money. Then they turn a blind eye unless a lawsuit is filed. But they aren’t making much of anything off the record or my sticker. Ass-spats.
April 20, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Actually, about two years ago I got a C&D from Summit for a Twilight listing. Not sure why I seemed to be the only one, since there are still lots of Twilight items on there… Perhaps it’s b/c mine was actually handmade?
April 20, 2012 at 9:35 am
GAWDAMMNED THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME SO MAD!! are you trying to make me start drinking early?
wait….without them, we wouldn’t have this lovely place to mock their foibles. foible away!
i’m so happy i may start drinking early to celebrate. see how i made that work for me either way?
April 20, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Wait, you stop drinking?
April 20, 2012 at 9:37 am
I’m not defending Etsy because we all know that the only pre-requisite to working there is an IQ slightly higher than a carrot and proof that you own a Smiths album (or some other hipster bullshit, IDK). But I think with all the fear that cropped up after the SOPA scare they are just being overzealous at protecting their company.
Seriously though, fuck Chuck Norris. The
internetsmight love the shit outta him but he is a complete douche, judging from his political leanings. Obviously his handlers did this one (if it is even true, I call shenanigans) but still.April 20, 2012 at 3:31 pm
I thought the whole thing was magnificent. It is not “Chuck Norris” approved internet bs and it cracked me up. As far as legal, I call shenanigans. The emails just add to the awesome.
September 23, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Really? It took his political leanings to tell you he was a douche?
I figured out he was a douche when I found out he copyrighted/trademarked the Chuck Norris Jokes. You know, the things he never wrote and had NO HAND in creating? The Internet MEME?
Yeah, anybody who tries to trademark an internet meme, or copyright jokes they didn’t right… DOUCHE.
April 20, 2012 at 9:37 am
While I think it’s stupid to yell “copyright” on a used copy of a record, do we know if he actually does own any copyrights regarding the A-Team or the album? One doesn’t have to be on the album to own copyright. Still, super douchey.
April 20, 2012 at 10:00 am
Doesn’t matter what that conservatard cryptotheofascist prick thinks he owns. First sale doctrine, baby.
April 20, 2012 at 10:33 am
Thank you. Not one goddamn intellectual property right harmed here. Think of it as an online garage sale. Bozos giving us lawyers a bad name.
April 20, 2012 at 11:18 am
Hey, don’t go blaming Bozo for that! I’ve known plenty of lawyers who do it all by themselves.
Full Disclosure: I worked with lawyers at a legal publishing company…on second thought, they were the lawyers who couldn’t get jobs as lawyers…and one of them was indicted in a big scam…and his cellmate’s girlfriend at the time, knowing dick-squat about publishing, got a job at self same company only because she was screwing the guy…
*silently screams in frustration at the memory of those years wasted at that company, years I’ll never get back*
Sorry. I don’t hate lawyers. I know the full “first thing you do is kill all the lawyers” quote from Shakespeare, who didn’t hate lawyers and didn’t encourage the slaying of them.
I’ll start drinking now.
April 21, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Speaking as someone who works in IP law… if Ms. Lodge actually sent that letter, she ought to be ashamed of herself. I mean, seriously, between first sale doctrine and COMMON SENSE, she REALLY should know better. In fact, I expected better from Patton Boggs.
And what the heck is she doing on Etsy, anyway?
April 20, 2012 at 10:31 am
He does not own the copyright to this album.
April 20, 2012 at 11:32 am
I wonder if he owns a copy of the album and believes that he therefore owns RIGHTS to the album.
Seriously, I had an author send me a photo of a celebrity to print in her book that had nothing to do with the celebrity. The author wanted the photo as an example of a clothing design. I needed copyright permission. If we printed the book without it, we would be sued.
Author: “Yes, you can print it.”
Me: “But, it’s not your photo.”
Author: (Sighs in exasperation.) “Yes it IS! I bought it at The Snap Shack last week. I have the receipt!”
Me: “You own a COPY. You don’t own the RIGHTS to the photo. I can’t put it in the book until you get the photographer’s or studio’s permission and it will probably cost YOU a few hundred dollars.”
Silence.
Author: “I don’t think the book needs the photo.”
April 20, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I think he’s just starting to drink the internet meme Kool-ad…..oops, fruit punch & believe he is as mighty & powerful as he’s been joked to be!
April 20, 2012 at 11:53 am
If he does not own the copyright, than his lawyer has committed a felony. Lying about a copyright notice is perjury.
April 20, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I just don’t see how you can definitively say that. What you don’t know about Chuck Norris could fill a hundred books.
April 20, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I hope that stays true about me for the remainder of my life. I don’t want to have enough information for a tiny Post-it, much less 100 books.
April 20, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Chuck Norris combs his hair and the dandruff is Post-its.
April 22, 2012 at 2:27 pm
*frantically rids offce of all Post-its *
April 20, 2012 at 11:49 am
It doesn’t matter. Unless, ilovetrash somehow modified the album, broadcasted it or this is a bootleg copy of the album, copyright law doesn’t come into play.
April 20, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Isn’t the most likely scenario this – Norris’ lawyers sent notice about some other listing (one that actually involved Norris’ likeness)…
… and the Glitter Huffers got confused and contacted the wrong person about the wrong listing?
If my choices are 1) Norris’ lawyers made a mistake or 2) Glitter Huffers made a mistake, I point my long bony finger of blame at the bumpkin who sparkles.
April 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm
this comment? perfect in every damned way.
April 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Ah hahahaha… Glitter huffers… Love it!
April 21, 2012 at 11:55 pm
As a former legal assistant and hobby proofreader *heeheehee*, I think NatGo has hit the nail on the head. Somebody at the law firm or etsy did a cut & paste but failed to proofread.
April 20, 2012 at 1:19 pm
I think that because both he and Mr. T have done World of Warcraft commercials, Chuck thinks that he now has the rights to everything Mr. T has done.
April 20, 2012 at 1:40 pm
It doesn’t matter. First Sale doctrine says that once a copyrighted item is sold once, it can be re-sold as many times as desired without violating any of the copyright owner’s rights. Once that album was first sold, Chuck Norris lost any right to object to it being sold again – assuming that he even had any such right in the first place.
April 21, 2012 at 11:39 pm
I sent a link to this to Cory Doctorow, who used to be the European Liaison to the EFF. He does a lot of copyright stuff and fights unfair DMCA takedown notices. I can understand Etsy worrying about losing safe harbor status, which is why they would do a takedown even without any real evidence, but she should be able to file a counter notice. In case of a counter notice they (Chuck Norris) either have to take you to court (the scary part) or you can put it back up. She has two weeks to file, then they have two weeks to respond. Hopefully Cory will be able to do something, even if it’s just to give advice, but I know he is busy and copyright isn’t his day job anymore.
FWIW, this is EXACTLY why copyright reform matters. There are a lot of these bogus takedowns where the complainant really has no rights to claim, but the poster is afraid to counter file because it means they could have to go to court, so the bastards get away with it!
April 21, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Now that they’ve got copyright extended to heat death of the universe plus 24 years, they want to eliminate fair use and first sale. FAIAP they already have eliminated first sale in a lot of cases as electronic copies of media are licensed not sold.
April 20, 2012 at 9:38 am
Hi, I’m Reverend Back It On Up 13, the famous hollywood celebrity reverend (“Rev. 13″) and I say it’s okay to sell Mr. T’s album on etsy, even if it violates the laws of good judgment to buy it.
April 20, 2012 at 11:56 am
Rev: Just clicked on your name and got lost in your blog. Your Mickey Dolenz fact are the best thing I’ve read all year. Fuck Chuck Norris.
April 20, 2012 at 11:57 am
factS
April 20, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Thank you. I got into some trouble for that. Apparently Micky Dolenz has eyes EVERYWHERE. No lie.
April 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm
How could he be angry? You said such wonderfully positive things about him!
April 25, 2012 at 5:18 pm
M*cky D*lenz is going to BUST OUR ASSES, pal. Just like he did with your dog. I for one am stocking up on Depends for the impending ass explosion.
April 20, 2012 at 9:39 am
Much like Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines, Chuck Norris created another persona, Mr. T, so he could corner the huge market gap left by the disappearance of minstrel shows.
April 20, 2012 at 10:37 am
Dammit! Thanks for reminding us about that fiasco. I had completely blocked it. (I am sure Garth Brooks thanks you too)
Now to spend another 15-ish years drinking that memory away.
April 20, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Am I the only one who remembers when Garth Brooks dress up as a French whore on Saturday Night Live?
April 20, 2012 at 9:39 am
This is bullshit, because that’s just not how it works. Chuck Norris’s copyright claims are enforced with his fists.
April 20, 2012 at 9:42 am
srsly…everybody knows that.
April 20, 2012 at 9:40 am
I pity the fool who crosses Carlos!
April 20, 2012 at 9:43 am
If you violate Etsy’s TOS, Chuck Norris will violate your ASS.
April 20, 2012 at 9:40 am
come on you guys, it’s a VENUE. they have to do what they’re told by the man.
April 20, 2012 at 9:41 am
Chuck Norris owns the copyrights even when he doesn’t own the copyright.
April 20, 2012 at 10:25 am
Attempted to add this to the official Chuck Norris Facts website, we’ll see what happens. >:)
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/
April 20, 2012 at 10:50 am
DECLINED – BUT DON’T GIVE UP!
Thank you for submitting your Chuck Norris fact. Unfortunately, we were unable to accept it. It was either a duplicate, or did not meet the ethical standards we strive for with Chuck Norris Facts.
We invite you to try again! Submit an original fact, making sure that it’s clean, and before you know it, you’ll have your own Chuck Norris Fact up on the site and on a shirt!
-Lol Ethical Standards
April 20, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Aww…. too bad! But thanks for trying!! It was just the first thing that popped into my head when I opened regretsy this morning. That site is always good for some laughs!!
April 20, 2012 at 9:41 am
America!
April 20, 2012 at 9:43 am
I’m scared now. Chuck Norris knows we’re talking about him. We’re all about to get roundhouse kicked in the face.
Somebody hold me.
April 20, 2012 at 10:04 am
Quiet, you’re just angering him more now.
April 20, 2012 at 9:44 am
Chuck Norris is so bad ass he wears Mr.T on a gold chain around his neck
April 20, 2012 at 9:44 am
I’m relatively sure that ol’ Chuckie has absolutely fuck-all to do with the A-Team. In fact, the only connection I can think of between them is that World of Warcraft commercial with Chuck and Mr. T in it.
April 20, 2012 at 9:45 am
MSNBC had an article on movie licensing yesterday that mentioned the ‘Hunger Games’ merch on Etsy:
“Not just anyone can slap The Hunger Games name on a product and go into business, says Lodes. Merchants must get a licensor’s blessing, agree to share a percentage of sales and guarantee a minimum royalty payment with a deposit that can range from $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the product and terms of the agreement.
That hasn’t stopped artisans from putting Katniss’ trademark Mockingjay design on handmade jewelry, infinity scarves, custom sneakers, stationary, you name it. A recent search for The Hunger Games on online marketplace Etsy turned up 7,700 items. Smaller merchants often skirt the issue of licensing by selling unofficial merchandise “inspired” by the movie, says Lodes, and studios may be willing to turn a blind eye if the products support the brand and “aren’t complete knock-offs.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47066993#.T5GSMluqjhA
April 20, 2012 at 9:52 am
lol, this makes me want to go item by item and report the knock-offs to the copyright holder… then send etsy mods a note saying “you’re welcome”
April 20, 2012 at 9:53 am
Lionsgate (the company producing ‘Hunger Games’) has been pretty cool thus far with ‘independently produced’ merchandise. The only time I’ve heard about cease and desists has been when products have been in direct competition with their own official merchandise. I’ve had a couple friends have their creative ventures shut down, but no one on Etsy yet.
Lionsgate has partnered with cafepress to get a chunk of the ‘Hunger Games’ products made over there. Instead of shutting independent operators down, they promote the products through an official Hunger Games store and take a (large) cut.
Anyway, it is really interesting to me to see a company that is aware of the issue and looking for alternative answers to the problem of unofficial merchandise instead of just sending out C&D orders en mass.
April 20, 2012 at 9:59 am
good for lionsgate! more companies should try a cooperative approach to things.
April 20, 2012 at 10:36 am
I volunteer with an organization which sponsors a community Earth Day celebration. Our coordinator thought it might be fun to print out and mount a cutout of the Lorax (film version) for kids to pose next to for photos.
She wrote the studio (I think Universal) an email asking permission and got an immediate response. Yes, of course we could, and we could even use the image in advertising. It’s their policy to grant free use requests during the first 6 months of release – a good thing to know. So we get to tie in with something ‘big’ while they get free publicity, a clever win-win.
Etsy could use some clever policies of their own.
April 20, 2012 at 11:00 am
“clever” to Etsy is to glue a moustache on something.
April 20, 2012 at 11:10 am
Be careful Groucho Marx’s family might have your posts taken down, he owns the copyright for the mustache right?
April 20, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Actually, I believe Geraldo Rivera is all over the moustache copyright, because his is REAL dammit, and Groucho’s was just greasepaint.
April 20, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Groucho tried wearing a real one but nobody recognized him.
September 23, 2012 at 10:04 pm
I knew Universal was cool about this shit in the past – I recall here in FL, there was a preschool or daycare that had painted some Disney characters into a mural, and they got sued by Disney for it. Universal (perhaps smelling the AWESOME PR coup?) immediately offered free use of THEIR licensed characters instead. They just repainted the mural with Universal-owned characters and are fine. Winner: Universal, for looking like the Cool Kids. Loser: Disney, for looking like stingy assholes. Universal also IIRC either officially or unofficially partnered with CafePress when revving up for the Serenity movie release – understandable, since it was a cult hit to begin with.
I didn’t know that Lionsgate was doing similar stuff, but I’m glad of it. It’s vastly more pleasant for the fans – who are less inclined to abandon the fandom (and thus the property!), making it also very smart.
Sometimes not being a dick is the wisest move; too bad not everybody realizes this.
April 20, 2012 at 9:08 pm
but … the C&D is easy! the other way involves work and who in cupcake land want’s to work?
April 20, 2012 at 10:15 am
My take-away from that: you can get a job with MSNBC/entrepeneur.com even if you can’t spell “stationery.” So can your editor.
April 20, 2012 at 9:45 am
The offending part of the copy was “corner bangs”. Everyone knows that Corner Bangs is Chuck’s porn name.
April 20, 2012 at 11:12 am
“Nobody bangs Chuckie in the corner!”
April 20, 2012 at 4:30 pm
I snorted out loud in the office. I can’t stop repeating “Corner Bangs” in different name scenarios now.
“Corner, Corner Bangs.”
“Yeah, I’m looking for a Mr. Bangs….Anybody here named Corner Bangs?” (In a Moe voice)
April 20, 2012 at 9:46 am
Honestly it boggles my non intoxicated mind. Chuck would totally take care of this mistake with his fists… maybe we should too. In a little while anyway. Maybe after a few drinks.
April 20, 2012 at 9:48 am
well, there’s always ebay… now somehow the lesser of two evils, lol
April 20, 2012 at 9:50 am
that awkward moment when ebay becomes the lesser of two evils…
also, did anyone notice mr. T is wearing two different socks?
April 20, 2012 at 9:54 am
He’s Bisoxual.
April 20, 2012 at 10:30 am
Marry me?
April 20, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Sorry, I already have a fella who never wears matching socks!
April 20, 2012 at 1:44 pm
OK, thanks for getting back to me. It’s not as if I had the wedding gown waiting or anything. Glad you’re happy with your fella, yada yada yada.
*curls up and thinks that being single for the rest of my life won’t be so bad…except people ARE living a lot longer these days…annnd I’m now extra sad*
April 20, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Mugsy, you mean you bought the mismatched fabric hippie gown just in case your intended was a mismatched sock wearing hippie?
April 20, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Upchuck, a girl can dream her whole life of standing, in a mismatched hippie wedding gown, before a minister-ordtained-by-sending-$39.99-to-an-ad-in-the-back-of-High-Times-magazine, to be wed to a guy with mismatched socks, can’t she? Isn’t that what every little girl dreams of?
*sniffles*
April 20, 2012 at 11:13 am
That’s 70′s gangsta yo!
April 20, 2012 at 1:05 pm
He’s Spencer Reid’s long-lost big brother!
April 20, 2012 at 9:51 am
Excellent
Thinking
Stupid
Yanker
Perfectly
Okay
Legal
Items
Cut
Inappropriately
Etsy
Sucks
April 20, 2012 at 9:54 am
I love corner bangs. And that ain’t just jibba jabba!
April 20, 2012 at 9:58 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 10:05 am
I know who I’d like to STFU…
April 20, 2012 at 10:10 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 10:26 am
Um, yeah it is a valid notice as it goes to this issue of standing – unless he has bought all of T’s intellectual property rights, Norris has no right to imply infringement of those rights.
Informing Etsy of this obvious problem is enough “notice.”
Also, it is an issue of ownership of a specific product. Say I buy a painting from an artist for $100 dollars and then sell it a year later for $1,000. Obviously, I do not have to send that money back to the artist because IT’S MINE AND I OWN IT AND ALREADY PAID FOR IT. If I had, however, made prints of the painting and sold them I would have to either obtain prior permission or cut the artist on the deal.
Somehow I don’t think ilovetrash went into a recording studio and made knockoff records.
By the way, the sky is blue in my world – what’s it in yours?
April 20, 2012 at 10:30 am
Immediately removing a listing due to the filing of a false complaint is very bad business, and not something Etsy is compelled to do.
In fact, it’s their obligation not to do that, or they’re sending the message that anyone can make an unsubstantiated claim of copyright and shut you down. Your only recourse would be to contact the person who made the mistake and persuade them to retract their claim. Good luck if it’s a celebrity. And it’s an even worse scenario if someone has it in for you and does this deliberately to fuck with your business.
April 20, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Contacting the lawyer can work, provided Etsy gave that info. I had a problem with using the words “Moulin Rouge” as a tag and had my shop closed. There is a company who owns those words. I contacted the lawyers and they were very helpful in getting me up and running again. They admitted they had made a mistake. But do an Etsy search for Moulin Rouge and you will still find tons of stuff.
April 20, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Who objected? Was it the owners of the cabaret or Baz Luhrmann?
April 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Well, I didn’t personally thumb you down, but defending – on any level – something as fundamentally insane as this is a good way to get your comment squashed.
April 20, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Although you bring up several interesting points, I think that your first post, with the “pointless petulant sobbing” and all, did not bring the love.
April 21, 2012 at 5:33 pm
The down-vote is because you defended etsy taking down a listing that is perfectly legal by first sale doctrine. Further, the copyright claim was by someone who does not own the album’s copyrights nor is involved with the album in any other way. It is by its nature a fraudulent copyright claim and a fraudulent take down.
Counter notices are routinely ignored by etsy, and claims by studios routinely follow through, even in cases like this where it is clear that the claim is fraudulent. Short of dragging them to court, which has its own costs, there is no way to hold etsy accountable.
Meanwhile etsy is allowing the sale of other items that are much more gray as far as copyright or reselling, likely because they get a cut of every item sold. Claims by civilians, even with proof, are routinely ignored (and can even get the accuser banned for shaking the boat), while claims by studios or rich persons with no proof are considered automatically true.
That is why there are down votes.
April 23, 2012 at 9:30 am
In addition to all the reasons mentioned by everyone ahead of me, you also obliquely compared the seller to Orly Taitz. That didn’t bring the love, either.
April 20, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Welcome to the DMCA – because of the way that law is set up, if you DON’T remove a listing when a complaint is made, you can be sued for copyright infringement along with the owner of the listing. If you DO remove the listing immediately, you get immunity from suit.
What’s the penalty for improperly taking down a listing? Pretty much none.
Don’t like this? Write your Congresscreature and get it changed. The DMCA is an evil, evil piece of legislation, and this is just one of its evil effects.
April 20, 2012 at 3:28 pm
By the way, I’m in no way defending Etsy’s actions here. I’m saying they were prompted by a very evil piece of legislation, and it is that evil piece of legislation that’s at fault here.
April 20, 2012 at 11:02 am
Yeah, this is why all the Chinese resellers get their listings pulled INSTANTLY.
April 20, 2012 at 11:20 am
That’s because it’s not copyright infringement, just Etsy failing to enforce their own terms of service. I guess what Etsy is telling us is that the only way to do away with the resellers is to claim copyright infringement, hmmm…… Kinda like a parent who won’t discipline their own kids but tells them if they don’t behave they will get in trouble from “the man”.
April 20, 2012 at 9:48 pm
April 26, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Purrfect timing.
April 20, 2012 at 9:59 am
April 20, 2012 at 10:05 am
This is an infringement! I demand that you remove it at once!!!! Extra exclamation points!!!
April 20, 2012 at 10:17 am
Yes can we let Mr.T know that Chuck Norris is trying to lay claim to his image. This is exactly how I imagine the outcome!
April 20, 2012 at 10:00 am
Mr Spock? Orbital bombardment is ready and awaiting your order.
(I know, mixed references, but I like to think the day of Logical Reckoning will someday take this form.)
April 20, 2012 at 10:00 am
It boggles my mind how a company so completely out of touch with reality or ethics is still even able to operate over the sound of their congratulatory creamy muted super yummy office vintage circle-jerks.
I would pity all these fools, except I am incapable of feeling anything besides scorn and disdain, on alternate Thursdays, and then only on full moons.
April 20, 2012 at 10:33 am
Ew! Do we really need to know what you do with other peoples’ fully exposed buttocks? No, no we don’t.*
*Unless you post lots of photos.
April 20, 2012 at 10:04 am
I think we all know that the real reason that the album was pulled was because of the NO PCP symbol on the back of the cover. You have to be constantly high to work at Etsy and Mr. T’s anti-drug stance is just too much for the glittery cupcake brigade to process.
April 20, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Nancy Reagan and Mr. T worked so hard to keep drugs away from kids!
April 20, 2012 at 11:09 pm
OK, let’s try this again:
April 20, 2012 at 11:10 pm
The hell? Now they’re both showing up!?! The first one was a broken image symbol two minutes ago!
April 20, 2012 at 10:04 am
you know, as much as i love to rip on etsy, this is one of the few situations in which i can’t hold them at fault.
they received a letter, and they’re doing what they are legally obligated to do. it’s not their fault the letter was vague as fuck and carlos apparently scours the internet all day and night, madly throwing out cease and desist letters.
take it up with chuck, i say.
April 20, 2012 at 10:07 am
Except…This is a Mr. T album.
April 20, 2012 at 10:10 am
It doesn’t matter. The DCMA law is such that you have to take it down. Blame the law, not Etsy. The law was DESIGNED to enable bogus complaints — that is its purpose.
April 20, 2012 at 10:17 am
1. It’s DMCA, not DCMA, and
2. it was also designed to make rebuttals easy. After you file your rebuttal with the provider and/or complainant, they either have to file for an injunction in a court of competent jurisdiction (to which the court will most likely reply with nothing more favorable than “you’re high”), or slink back into the woodwork.
April 20, 2012 at 11:46 am
Yes, but that puts the legal burden on you. They are ALREADY a lawyer; now you have to get one too, or jump through hoops designed by them, even if the original claim is blatantly bogus. Hoop-jumping is specifically designed as a bar to participation.
April 20, 2012 at 10:31 am
Which is a graphic illustration of why the SOPA/PIPA law would have been such a disaster. It went even farther in enabling bogus complaints. It basically eliminated any recourse.
April 20, 2012 at 10:11 am
well, yeah, i know that. i’m not saying the letter isn’t bullshit, because it is. the album is clearly unrelated to chuck norris, in any way.
but, because his lawyers sent a letter to etsy, they are legally obligated to follow through. and if the seller objects, it’s unfortunately up to them to take legal action into their own hands. not a matter of feelings or principles here, just plain old cold legal process.
etsy IS just a venue. a smelly, bloated, crap-filled venue, but just a venue after all.
April 20, 2012 at 10:31 am
Ah, but don’t forget, without the devil, there would be no god.
Uh, I mean, without etsy, there would be no regretsy.
Without melting chocolate, there would be no M&M’s?
What was my point?
April 20, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Mmmmmmm m&mmmmmmmmsssss
April 20, 2012 at 10:07 am
however, the message they sent in reply sounded like it was written by a robot (which it probably was).
as touchy-feely-fluffy-snuggly as the etsy staff makes themselves out to be, you’d think they could do something a little more personal than copy and paste a pre-written message from a database.
September 18, 2012 at 10:18 am
Oh, my poor late Intellectual Property Attorney died too soon. He could make a bundle defending Etsy sellers against bogus claims by Etsy, and that’s even charging them the pittance they can afford.
Then he could charge them the big bucks defending them from Disney when they get caught REALLY infringing.
April 20, 2012 at 11:02 am
Well, I’m just a simple country witch doctor, but….
From what I can tell, it’s not that Etsy are legally required to take anything down, that’s just the easy way. Also, the law is written so that the alleged copyright-violator can counter-claim, and Etsy then can reinstate the content unless/until the original claimant takes the whole thing to district court w/in 14 days.
So yeah, they can take things down and brush off requests of counter-claims, but they don’t HAVE to.
April 20, 2012 at 11:12 am
And I do realize “theres nothing about chuck norris in this listing” isn’t a proper counter-notice per Etsy’s policy, but still, they didn’t have to remove the thing automatically, and in fact their policy does not say Etsy will automatically remove things, but rather that they “may” remove things.
April 20, 2012 at 10:07 am
ilovetrash’s location is listed as:
“hollywood, ca -aka- hell”
For that along she should be allowed to sell whatever she wants.
April 20, 2012 at 10:08 am
Get the ruler, smack some knuckles!
April 20, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Man. That reminds me of my Geography class, when I got punished for pointing out to the TA, not the teacher, that Ireland is its own republic, not part of the United Kingdom, and has been since 1922. Well, not part of the UK since ’22. It was the Irish Free State until the ’50s when it became the Republic of Ireland.
And I’ll shut up now.
April 20, 2012 at 8:49 pm
I think it’s just something about Geography teachers, the bastards. When I was 10 years old one of mine laughed at me (and got the rest of the class to join in) for telling him that the banana plant is a herb. He actually managed to convince me I was wrong until I saw it stated again on some cooking show.
Anthony Worrall-Thompson knows more about bananas than you, geography teacher I used to have, and he’s a shoplifter of cheese! You should feel bad.
April 20, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Yeah, I had an animal care camp counselor who agreed with the other kids when I tried to tell them that rabbits aren’t rodents.
April 21, 2012 at 4:51 am
And you just reminded me of MY geography teacher- a nun- who placed me outside the classroom for talking too much then complained that I didnt talk to the other kids in class…. geography teachers must just be evil…
April 20, 2012 at 7:52 pm
This looks (and sounds) exactly like my sons teacher!
April 20, 2012 at 10:08 am
Deborah M. Lodge
Patton Boggs LLP
2550 M St NW, Ste 500
WASHINGTON, DC 20037-1350
There’s a zero percent chance that Ms. Lodge is unfamiliar with the doctrine of First Sale, as established in Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus, 210 U.S. 339 (1908), which gives the purchaser of copyrighted material the unlimited right to sell, lend, or give away that material without gaining permission from the copyright holder.
Her claim is utterly baseless. She’s just being a nuisance on the orders of her wealthy client. DCMA itself is the embodiment of being a nuisance on the orders of wealthy clients. And lawyers wonder why people hate them.
You can stop with the Chuck Norris jokes, too. He’s a scumbag. Etsy’s a scumbag too, but they’re not at fault here — they’re obligated to follow even bogus DCMA takedowns. Thank your congressman instead.
April 20, 2012 at 10:13 am
This doesn’t actually seem to have anything to do with the actual attorney or “Mr. Norris.” It’s Etsy that has incorrectly flagged a listing, and Etsy that is refusing to do anything but send out a form letter. If this listing actually had anything to do with “Mr. Norris” then Etsy would have some justification.
April 20, 2012 at 10:20 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 10:43 am
Etsy is not required to remove a listing based on a false claim without even looking at the listing in question. They are also not prohibited from asking the complainant for clarification if there appears to be an obvious clerical error.
I think it’s more that they don’t give a shit.
April 20, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Not only do they not give a shit, they will not lift a finger to help their sellers to clear up an issue like this.
April 20, 2012 at 1:18 pm
I will bet real cash money that the mistake was entirely Jason’s (Etsy’s).
I doubt Norris’ lawyers know nothing about this – if anything, they probably sent notice about a different listing. This was probably a cut-and-paste mistake by a dullard in Etsy legal (I know, I know – which dullard?).
Most likely scenario is Etsy contacted the wrong person about the wrong listing, and of course they are too stupid to correct their own mistake.
April 20, 2012 at 2:54 pm
If this is true, than regretsy could, say, issue the same notice to all known chinese reseller sites, and etsy would have to comply.
Etsy only doesn’t give a shit about people who can’t fight back. But they will back down in a nanosecond if there were damages involved.
It’s not clear to me that etsy is the right place to be selling used records, since they’re not exactly a handmade craft and all, but etsy is totally full of crap for failing to question a clearly bogus take-down notice. But lawyers cost money, and it’s much easier to remove a $.20 listing.
For that matter, etsy could have spared itself even more trouble and just bought the offending item, and burned it on Chuck Norris’ lawn.
April 21, 2012 at 12:31 am
Absolutely true. Etsy doesn’t give a shit about fairness or good business. Hell, they don’t even give a shit about following their own rules unless it is convenient to them.
I sent them an email a while back telling them that I was trying to find an item and wanted to buy from an Etsy seller, yet I wasn’t having much luck due to the rampant tag spamming that makes it damn-near impossible to find anything. My email was polite despite my annoyance. I simply asked if they could please crack down on sellers who were abusing tags and making it hard for people to find items to buy. Do you know what they said? Something along the lines of, “we will look into this the next time we consider whether or not we need to change our rules”. WTF?!
Etsy embodies everything I hate about hipster culture (if you can even call it that).
April 20, 2012 at 9:50 pm
Butts, do you work for Etsy, and are you the person that did this?
April 20, 2012 at 9:54 pm
That was mostly rhetorical. I don’t care.
The fucktards at Etsy make careless mistakes because they are too busy decorating their work areas, then use legal-sounding bullshit to cover their asses rather than to own up to their mistakes. I don’t care that it looks like they are right, they weren’t right to begin with. If this actually made it to court, the judge would ask the lawyer if s/he was high and throw the case out.
April 20, 2012 at 10:33 am
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April 20, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Actually, Etsy could be at fault because they failed to exercise due diligence
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence
It is not unreasonable to expect them to verify that they’re pulling down the correct listing – not to investigate the infringement complaint, just to make sure they’re looking at the right listing before they act. Or at the very least to give the seller clear instructions for getting the listing restored if a mistake has been made.
April 20, 2012 at 10:15 am
I fear you are unfamiliar with the doctrine of Chuck Norris, as established by Chuck Norris, which maintains that you can not stop with the Chuck Norris.
April 20, 2012 at 10:37 am
But sometimes a lawyer’s responsibility is to tell his or her client that expressing all that butthurt will come back to bite them in the … oops.
April 20, 2012 at 11:49 am
The only repurcussions Norris will face are bigger bills from Ms. Lodge, which Ms. Lodge has precious little incentive to stop.
April 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Ah – I knew there was another IP lawyer in the house.
But surely Etsy has some in-house counsel who can evaluate the take-down notices they receive and reject the ones that are baseless?
April 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm
As it turns out, the in-house counsel has other business to attend to. There’s gotta be some good porn in the flag queue!
April 20, 2012 at 7:56 pm
But Chuck is so much easier to go after…sure he can roundhouse kick your head off, but will he extradite you to Syria and make you “disappear” like the government official can?
April 20, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Chuck Norris heard that. Actually, he knew you wrote that even before you did.
April 20, 2012 at 10:10 am
Things like this are why I so completely want to get far, far away from Etsy and their screaming silliness.
April 20, 2012 at 10:11 am
So etsy received a Chuck Norris infringement complaint on a Mr. T record but not this http://tinyurl.com/7nz9p8w If I were part of etsy content/legal I would question them to make sure they complained about the correct link.
April 20, 2012 at 10:44 am
Exactly!
April 20, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Why is this tagged Chuck Norris?
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75761516/my-tiny-metal-mustache?ref=sr_gallery_29&ga_search_query=chuck+norris&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=handmade
April 21, 2012 at 12:36 am
Because Etsy doesn’t give a damn about tag spamming as long as there are mustaches or other “hip” items involved. Sadly, most of us just aren’t cool enough to understand.
My hatred for Etsy and all things hipster runneth deep.
April 21, 2012 at 2:34 am
Shhhh! It’s a trap for Chuckles. Mr. T is, as you can see, a master of disguise.
April 20, 2012 at 10:14 am
Is there some way we can get ILoveTrash a WePay store? As in a super awesome fantabulous unbelievably Magical wepay store as a sort of Massive FU to Etsy?
April 20, 2012 at 10:21 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 3:48 pm
No one is compelled to take down a listing for a Mr. T album based on a complaint by Chuck Norris’ attorney.
April 20, 2012 at 10:21 am
Do you think the Etsy team actually looked at the item that was flagged by Deborah M. Lodge? Surely they have too many complaints to actually pay attention to the content.
April 20, 2012 at 10:29 am
I’m just shocked that they even read their mail.
April 20, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I don’t think hipsters can actually read things printed on paper.
Only if it’s on a screen of some sort.
April 20, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Nah, they’re fine with paper. It just has to be vintage.
April 20, 2012 at 4:53 pm
And the words have to have been written using a vintage pencil lovingly hand-sharpened with a penknife.
April 20, 2012 at 6:03 pm
And ONLY the Papyrus font is used.
April 20, 2012 at 7:56 pm
They can also read chalkboards.
April 20, 2012 at 10:26 am
Someone should reanimate Bruce Lee’s corpse, so he can rise from the grave and kick Chuck’s ass again!
April 20, 2012 at 10:28 am
Call me crazy, but…
April 20, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Every time I scroll past this I hear it in my mind sung as “There’s gonna be a heartache tonight…lord, I know.” (Those probably aren’t the exact lyrics to the song, but I’m too tired to look them up and really, in the larger scheme of things, it’s not worth it. You get the gist.)
April 20, 2012 at 10:54 am
Do we know that Chuck Norris and Mr. T are NOT the same person? Has anyone ever seen them in the same room at the same time? No? So it’s entirely possible Chuck Norris IS Mr. T, therefore owning the copyrights to the album….
April 20, 2012 at 12:16 pm
They have been seen in the same room at the same time, it’s just all the witnesses died from Acute Awesome Overload
April 20, 2012 at 10:55 am
So does this mean that MegaMan can sue me for selling my sister’s PacMan Fever album?
April 20, 2012 at 11:01 am
Well duh. Of course he can. I’m really surprised you haven’t already been dragged into court.
April 20, 2012 at 10:57 am
Look at Etsy being all efficient! Someone must’ve woken early from their cupcake and organic coffee sugar coma.
Let’s all copy/paste a form letter decreeing copyright infringement in the name of random obscure celebrities and start reporting all the Chinese resellers.
April 20, 2012 at 11:48 am
Now THAT’S an idea I can get behind.
April 20, 2012 at 12:13 pm
I believe Liza Minnelli owns the rights to all those “hand carved” tribal earrings.
Also $30 wedding dresses.
April 20, 2012 at 1:46 pm
This idea is made of serious win.
April 20, 2012 at 3:31 pm
You’ll be surprised at how well that can work.
April 20, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Ooh, I know–can we do it in the name of…oh, crap, I forget her name. The lady who psychically reads ass prints.
April 20, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Ms. Stallone.
April 20, 2012 at 11:07 am
I could have sworn that Michael Jackson bought the rights to those songs right after he purchased the Beatles’ catalog and “happy Birthday”
April 20, 2012 at 11:22 am
I think Sony now owns all that. Or Bill Gates? I think if you go high enough some group owns it all. *insert evil laugh here*
April 20, 2012 at 11:10 am
As a partner at a Big Law firm, I’m going to guess that Ms. Lodge charges at least $600 an hour (probably more). If the notice to Etsy took her, say, 15 minutes, that means that Carlos “Chuck” Norris paid her $150 to remove a completely irrelevant item from Etsy. I wonder is Mr. Norris is aware of how efficiently and effectively his lawyers are working on his behalf.
April 20, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Who do you think is more likely to make a mistake? A $600 per hour lawyer, or a cupcake biter at Etsy? I still think this was an “oopsie” by Etsy – contacted the wrong seller about the wrong listing.
I wish there were a way to know for sure.
April 20, 2012 at 11:11 am
hehe Carlos….
I think that too much cupcakery leads to poor reading comprehension, and then not being able to understand simple explanations. Makes me want to sell a stack of old People Magazines and my parents old records from way back when to see what will happen.
April 20, 2012 at 11:17 am
Shit like this makes my 100% certain that the entire Etsy back-end operations are run by a cut rate AI and chickens. Not even robot chickens. Just… chickens.
April 20, 2012 at 11:52 am
I read that as “a cute rat, Al, and the chickens” and had just forgotten the commas.
April 20, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Glad I’m not the only one who wondered why and how a cute rat would be running things at Etsy.
April 20, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Well, it may be more competent.
April 20, 2012 at 11:37 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
April 20, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Hell, I’d complain if I got one directly. He’s a douchebag.
April 20, 2012 at 1:43 pm
So basically she should be happy to be sued as long as it’s by someone famous? Even though it is completely without merit? Nonsense.
April 20, 2012 at 3:59 pm
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April 20, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Never new there was a thing as CNjokes. Pretty funny actually!
April 20, 2012 at 11:43 am
Now Innow what Etsy stands for:
Excrement-eating
Tiny-brained
Scrotum-nosed
Yutzes
April 20, 2012 at 11:43 am
Maybe Chuck Norris should dust off some of his exercise machine cash and plunk it down for this extrememely valuable asset to his business? Might make a lovely display for his West Wing to show people at parties?
April 20, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Just so Edi is aware, she can file a DMCA counter-notification pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3) and Etsy will be legally obligated to reinstate her listing.
Counter-notifications must follow the exact format specified by law; this ChillingEffects page is designed to help make one that follows the rules.
April 20, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Yup. And she should; copyright holders should not be allowed to get away with blatant fraud. Which this is.
April 20, 2012 at 7:58 pm
If Edi needs help writing/sending a counter-notice, I’d be happy to help. I’m not a lawyer , but as a photographer and magazine publisher I’ve written shit tons of DMCA complaints and it’s basically the same thing in reverse.
April 20, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I read to the end (so far), hoping there would be a celebration of triumph with Mr. T going back up for sale. The wheels are justice are slow. Too much jibber-jabber. I am embarrassed for Chuck.
April 20, 2012 at 12:30 pm
If Edi contacts the lawyer, shows him that he shouldn’t have filed a complaint (and he agrees) she can get the item reinstated. BUT, she has to get the lawyer to retract his complaint with Etsy. It isn’t good enough with the hipsters at Etsy to get forwarded emails of all your communications. It has to come from the lawyer.
Etsy LOVES to make sellers jump through hoops. I know all of this from experience.
April 20, 2012 at 8:21 pm
They can’t legally require restoration to hinge on the complainer retracting the claim (not saying they’re not so clueless/inconsistent they don’t just make stuff up as they go along)
The material has to be reinstated, and the next step is that the complainer must escalate to filing a court action on it if they want it re-removed. Etsy is supposed to inform them a counter notice was received and they’ll be reinstating the item in 10 days unless they take it to court.
April 20, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Actually, I meant, they ARE totally so clueless/inconsistent that they would just make stuff up as they go along.
April 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Ooh, ooh, I know this one! First sale doctrine, anyone? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine)
Finally, my $150,000 law school education is coming in handy.
April 20, 2012 at 12:55 pm
That does it. Just closed my account.
Yeah, yeah, I know, what took me so long.
April 20, 2012 at 1:34 pm
I closed mine some time ago. A while later I accidentally logged in with my old info. Funny enough, it let me log back in as if the account was…gasp…never affected by the closure.
April 20, 2012 at 12:55 pm
LAME! Although not surprising- I had an item deactivated because I mentioned that is was “fiestaware”. It really was too, stamped on the bottom and everything. Too many lawyers not enough to keep ‘em legitimately busy!
April 20, 2012 at 1:10 pm
If this copyright BS about the record were true, you’d think e-bay would be in deep shit right about now….
April 20, 2012 at 2:24 pm
eBay’s already had a front row seat to this show (see UMG v. Augusto) and it didn’t end well for the record industry. Carlos, too, will find himself and his mouthpiece trying to piss up a rope, which is not among his many documented superpowers.
April 20, 2012 at 1:33 pm
I was surprised, but Cafepress was pretty good about takedown requests. They got one for my account from the Tolkien estate, and they actually *took the time to look*. They saw that, well, Galadriel is my NAME, and declined to take my store down (and sent me a notice about the takedown request and that they were not complying with it). Considering it was apparently in a stack of thousands of notices, I was impressed that they did take the time to examine them and make sure, rather than just taking down everything the Tolkien estate mentioned.
Very nice, you know?
April 20, 2012 at 2:02 pm
And this is how such complaints should be handled! Good to know Cafepress actually does.
April 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Um, today is 4/20, right?
I hoped somebody here might remember, surely.
Or am I wrong?
Sorry, off topic, but it seems important.
April 20, 2012 at 2:49 pm
I’d say that it’s HIGHLY important.
April 20, 2012 at 2:53 pm
I do remember.
I don’t know why it seems important to remember HERE though, in the comments for a post concerning another of Etsy’s fuck-ups.
That seems a bit of an inappropriate place.
I hope I’m not coming across as insensitive, because I’m not trying to be. It just strikes me as odd.
April 20, 2012 at 3:25 pm
It’s appropriate as in “what the etsy cupcakes are probably paying attention to, instead of making things right for sellers”.
That is all.
April 20, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Yeah, second thought, you’re probably right!
April 20, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Don’t mind spandy, he’s just having one of his episodes.
Come on now, dear, their serving pudding in the cafeteria…
April 20, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Is that little kid there on the right really Chuck Norris, perhaps? I didn’t think there was such a large age difference between him and Mr. T, but since Mr. T in unaging it’s a little hard to tell.
April 20, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Curse you! I went through all the comments to make sure no-one had posted what I was about to post. And in comment 197/199, you did!!!!
Actually I was going to say he was the one in white, top-left, but that was a little uncharitable.
April 20, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Also, I think it’d be a hoot if the seller wrote Mr. T a letter explaining that Chuck Norris’ lawyers are claiming copyright of his image, noting this situation, with emails, etc.
I’m a passive-aggressive bitch, though.
April 20, 2012 at 7:12 pm
It’s too bad we can’t somehow get ALL the world’s mentals into one confined place, where the rest of us don’t have to deal with them in places where we expect people to have sense.
Every company has its mentals, but Etsy’s per capita seems much higher than average.
April 21, 2012 at 5:04 am
HEY! Us mentals are people too! And I dont want to be forced to share air with cupcakes!
April 20, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Who’s for Chuck Norris taking on the monstrous devil that’s become the evil of Etsy? I say he does them in with one swift roundhouse to their barnyard chin!
April 20, 2012 at 7:53 pm
1) Chuck Norris is a notorious douchecanoe.
2) This pisses me off to no end as a friend has been getting ripped off of her registered(officially)copyrighted design by another user (to the tune of hundreds-to-possibly-thousands of dollars) and she can’t get Etsy to do anything about it, even with the paperwork proving it. Even DeviantArt responds to IP infringement claims, and that place is a fucking zoo.
April 20, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Yeah, but Etsy is the bigger douche.
April 20, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Have you considered getting the Regretsy thugs involved?
April 20, 2012 at 8:32 pm
If you want some real fun, post anything whatsoever about Prince (say, a live photo), and wait for his lawyer to try to demand Prince owns everything you own/list with him on it, so you must surrender your original item/files immediately.
I wish I could think of someway to exploit Norris’s vs Prince’s inflamed IP paranoia, preferably in some sort of Thunderdome arrangement.
April 20, 2012 at 8:44 pm
I can’t be very afraid of a man that’s shorter than me…and I’m only 5’4″
April 20, 2012 at 9:02 pm
People who are shorter than me freak me out (I’m 5’4″, too). I’m not used to seeing the tops of people’s heads, unless they’re, like, 10 years old.
April 20, 2012 at 9:38 pm
BOO! (5’0″)
April 20, 2012 at 11:26 pm
That was intended to not be the “Boo” as in dissent, but “Boo” to incite surprise and alarm.
April 22, 2012 at 2:33 pm
I’m 5’4″ and you short people really scare me. Never know WHAT you’re doing down there, sneaking around, especially when—
*hears noise, looks around, gets up, then falls down—*
DAMMIT! Now untie my sneakers and don’t do that again!
April 20, 2012 at 9:41 pm
right?
April 20, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Wait…
“…the famous actor, author, and celebrity (“Mr.Norris”)…
Oh, he’s a FAMOUS celebrity. Well, then!
April 20, 2012 at 11:27 pm
Referring to him like that makes me think of Mrs. Norris from Harry Potter.
April 21, 2012 at 2:21 am
Wow, this law firm actually DOES exist, and Deborah Lodge is actually LISTED on their “Professionals” list!
I don’t know why, but I kind of expected to Google that law firm and find out it was the equivalent of the firm of Dewey, Phuckem, and Howe. Because that’s what’s basically happening to ilovetrash.
That, and why the hell would Chuck Norris need something as plebian and gauche as a LAWYER? Real Chuck Norrises solve things with their FISTS.
April 21, 2012 at 9:17 am
I really can’t get over how incompetent, lazy and greedy Etsy are as a company. Can’t wait to see them go down in flames when they try to take this mess of an outfit public. I’m going to laugh and toast marshmallows.
April 21, 2012 at 9:25 am
I can’t get over the hypocrisy of Etsy’s stance. What would we call this? Hypocretsy?
April 21, 2012 at 3:31 pm
I shall steal “Hypocretsy” and deploy it lavishly.
April 21, 2012 at 7:05 pm
sounds like a good name for a new category tag
April 21, 2012 at 11:21 pm
This is the most mind-blowingly ridiculous claim ever. So, Chuck Norris purportedly goes around the internet looking on Etsy for vintage records to claim people cannot sell them? Yeah, everything about this makes perfect sense. First of all, I bet Chuck Norris gives less than a flying fuck about this person selling an old A-Team record. Second of all, the copyright claim does not hold up at all. The record is a vintage, pre-owned record being sold as is. If that’s an infringement of copyright law, how do record stores that sell pre-owned records work? Or even thrift stores in general? I call bullshit.
September 23, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Yes, First Sale Doctrine wouldn’t allow you to sell COPIES you’ve MADE of the record (since it was made after 1922)… but you can most certainly sell a single, preexisting copy that you’ve individually bought or been given fair and square.
Which is why you can’t just sell mp3 copies of Britney Spears songs ripped from her latest CD without licensing it, but you can sell the thing on eBay or loan it to a friend. The law only covers new copies of stuff still in copyright; old copies (or new copies of works whose copyright has lapsed or expired) can be transferred any way you want, with no compensation at all to the artist. Because, you know, the artist already GOT the compensation they agreed on, the first time they sold it.
April 22, 2012 at 9:23 pm
I was convinced it had to be fake – but it’s not, unfortunately. It seems that the famous actor, author and celebrity does indeed have someone sending C&D letters on his behalf. I found these…
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?500985-Chuck-Norris-is-Suing-Me
http://chucknorrisfacts.cwhatch.com/evicted.html
http://chucknorrisfacts.cwhatch.com/
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=193531&highlight=Chuck+Norris
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/chuck-norris-kill-chuck-norris-62190
However, the difference is that these links appear to show that the person in question *was* in the wrong, whether purposely or just for entertainment. Poor old Edi has done nothing of the sort. Chasing down Ms Lodge and clearing up the issue will no doubt be a costly exercise, so these lawyers bank on people just quietly doing what’s asked and not kicking up a fuss.
April 23, 2012 at 1:29 pm
I sent this in to abovethelaw.com, which tends to cover stuff that involves large firms (like Patton Boggs), frivolous legal maneuvering, and pop culture. This has all three!