gouldassc Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller gouldassc of Cleveland OH, United States, not only stole our 1927 Sovereign Photographs without permission to sell his sovereigns, but stated that the photos were of his actual coins, thereby deceiving all potential buyers.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 828; with 100% positive according to eBay.
It also demonstrates that high eBay feedback is no indicator of intelligence, reading ability or honesty.

Sample Listing

1927 Gold Sovereign - British - SA Mint - Uncirculated
This auction is for ONE uncirculated 1927 British Soverign (sic) from the Pretoria mint South Africa.
In 1927 a total of three mints issued sovereigns, Melbourne and Perth in Australia, and Pretoria mint South Africa.
I will combine shipping.
Please contact me with any questions.

What's Wrong?
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and cost into creating some of the best photographic coin images on the internet. We strongly object when lazy and dishonest people decide to use them without a by your leave or thanks, doing so in competition with us.
Copyright theft is dishonest. We recommend you avoid doing business with dishonest dealers.
This particular eBay seller not only stole our high quality images of both sides of a 1927 gold sovereign, he used them in his eBay auctions to try to sell his own sovereign without saying it was not the same coin. Anyone viewing the photographs would expect them to be the same, near perfect condition coin, "airbrushed" to make them look like supermodels.
In addition, this stupid ignorant crook stated "The photographs provided are of the coin(s) for sale and are the best means of judging condition".

It is always possible, even likely, that sellers who steal photographs do not own a similar coin, and have the intention to totally defraud potential buyers.
The vendor is not only cheating us by stealing our copyright images, he is fraudulently or ignorantly misleading and deceiving all potential buyers. Gaining pecuniary advantage by deception is the definition of fraud.

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
gouldassc	220554328413	10th Feb 2010	1927 Gold Sovereign - British - SA Mint - Uncirculated	$249

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of $249.

Complaint
We received a complaint by e-mail from Stephen A. Gould - President and CEO of Gould & Associates Global Services Inc., surely a vast multinational conglomerate with a title like that.:

You have claimed that I have violated a copyright and had eBay cancel the sale of a 1927 SA Mint Sovereign that I had listed on eBay.
They have informed me that you have claimed that the image of the 1927 SA Mint Sovereign is somehow owned by your company.
I scanned the coin I own on my office scanner, and posted the pictures of the coin on my listing. Just how do you own any rights to an image that I created of a coin minted by the British government?
I would like an explanation as to why you�ve maliciously and slanderously claimed I�ve stolen your �property�, to eBay.
Sincerely,
Stephen A. Gould - President and CEO
Gould & Associates Global Services Inc.
Main: 216-831-0135 Fax: 216-831-0137
Mobile: 734-945-8178
Skype: stephenagould
www.gouldglobal.com

Our Response - A Question for Mr Gould
First - That's what they all say!
Second - Exactly how did you manage to get our Digimarc watermarks on your photographs?

eBay Guilty of Negligence or Complicity
We will be reporting this example of copyright abuse using our standard Statutory Declaration via the eBay VeRO programme, and wait to see if they chose to action or ignore our report. We look forward to taking legal action against eBay for their negligence and / or complicity if they fail to take down the offending material promptly.

Selling Gold Sovereigns & Other Coins on eBay
We point out that sellers may often get more money, for less effort, by selling to a specialised dealer, such as us, rather than via eBay.

Copyright Notice
Please see our "Copyright" page for further information.