Is Darwin Ortiz being ripped off on Ebay?

[Guest]

I just read the thread on L&L getting ripped off on ebay and I would love for someone to help. About a year and a half ago, I won Darwin's video "How to Cheat at Cards". When I got it, it looked like a duplicate as the cover had been Xeroxed. I notified Darwin, who seemed to feel that there was nothing he could do, and then notified Ebay (especially when I saw the item posted 5 more times). All that ebay did was insist that they not use Xeroxed covers and the description for the item now "explains" it. I have seen the item posted close to 50 times since and I can't get any help -- can any of you more saavy folks help me explore if it is fraud and how we can stop it? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... egory=2278 is the item.

[Richard Kaufman]

Chris, you're wasting your breath. The ONLY one who can stop the copying is the company that markets the tape. If you want to take the time, then find out who markets the tape and owns the rights and contact that company with the information about the guy on eBay.
eBay will take no action unless the OWNER of the rights complains.

[Oliver Corpuz]

NOTE: This post is not intended to be legal advice, but provided for discussion. You should consult your own attorney for legal advice.

Chris, you may also have been ripped off and may have a cause of action against this seller. Although you are not the copyright owner of the tape and have no infringement claim as Richard points out, you were allegedly defrauded by this seller because he allegedly represented he was selling you a legitimate video, but instead sold you a counterfeit tape over the internet (assuming the tape really is not an authentic, legitimate tape).

Trafficking in counterfeit goods is illegal and against eBay's listing policy.

You should file a complaint with eBay against the seller for allegedly violating the listing policy by selling counterfeit goods and also file a complaint with the internet fraud complaint center

- Oliver

[Guest]

Thanks, gentlemen -- I will chase down the owners of the copyright and see what can be done. This just bothers me.

[Guest]

Good on you, Chris. Just a quick check on this person's EBay history shows he has sold the Darwin video many times, in addition to many other specialty market instructional videos ("Floral Nail Art"?), and has J.C.Wagner's video listed as well. I too have a particularly vindictive streak toward such slimy counterfeiters and applaud your efforts to shut down these creeps.

Interestingly, he has amended the wording on Darwin's video to reflect EBay's intervention, but continues to represent this as a "used" video, while also claiming he only has 1/2 case left of this "training" video. My guess is this case is as big as the market will bear.

And Oliver, I always appreciate your legal beagle takes on these issues -- the copyright posts were terrific.

--Randy Campbell

[Guest]

Thank you, Randy. Yes, isn't it interesting that they "only had a half case of videos left" over a year ago. That's one powerful egg bag.

[Guest]

Chris,

The label on my tape states the copyright as "1999 PR 1.5 Partners, 1234 Eton Court, Washington DC 20007". Hope that helps in some way.

Thanks for taking a stand on this. Mr Ortiz is a fine individual who deserves far better than to be ripped off in any way.

best,

Graham

[Richard Kaufman]

1234 Eton Court was Darwin's home address, so he's the copyright holder.
Has it ever occurred to you that Darwin might actually be selling the tapes himself?

[Guest]

Darwin is a much better writer than whoever wrote the eBay description. I also bought a book from Darwin on eBay once and he used a different seller ID.

[Guest]

I doubt it is Darwin for 3 reasons -- 1)The spelling and grammar are far below the level of Darwin's writing 2) Why would Darwin concoct a story so that there are no covers included on the tape 3) I showed this to Darwin a year ago in an email and he thanked me for bringing it to his attention. If this is fraud, it is fraud of a highly specialized and high-priced tape. Richard, it seems like you feel that I should drop it (and maybe I should), but I thought magicians were supposed to be vigilant against theft in all of its guises and report it. I believe that I was sold an illegal videotape and that more are being churned out at a quick rate. With many copies, and the original videotape retailing $60, this seems to be a felony.

[Jason England]

Chris, if the seller used the US Postal Service to mail the item, then perhaps you could get them involved. I realize it's a long shot, but if you succeeded, they might be able to scare the hell out of the guy.

Jason

[Guest]

I am assuming this is the same guy who "picked these videos up at a gaming convention." It's amazing how many duplicates of something you can buy at a convention. Seems to me that other people would be inetrested in buying something like this (especially if Darwin had spoken and lectured at the same event prior).

Seems like he found an infinite supply of "limited stock."