eBay’s reputation as a marketplace for fraud continues to worsen, with high profile mainstream media stories about lawsuits over the sale of fake, counterfeit, and copyright-infringing goods. The latest example comes from a court case in the UK, regarding a “global network of criminals [that] duped eBay customers into buying millions of pounds worth of fake golf clubs“. [Read more…]
I was in Los Angeles yesterday interviewing Joe Maddalena as part of my coverage of the upcoming Profiles in History “Hollywood Auction 37” event scheduled for next month, and took the opportunity to discuss the recent news of fraud in the poster collecting hobby. [Read more…]
Various reports have surfaced in recent weeks about a scandal involving what experts claim are counterfeit ’30s-’40s horror movie posters, window cards, and lobby cards. Some reporting on this story estimate that several million dollars worth of this material has been sold and traded into the marketplace, which has purportedly resulted in at least two lawsuits. [Read more…]
In what is being called a landmark decision, a jury in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California this week found that two ISPs and their owner are liable for contributing to trademark and copyright infringement for hosting sites selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton merchandise. [Read more…]
eBay dealer “moniemon92” – with an account created in 2007 but with no recorded transactions until a few weeks ago – has listed a number of items for sale with “Global Antiques” certificates of authenticity. These auction offerings are dominated by listings of items owned/autographed by the recently deceased Michael Jackson. [Read more…]
eBay seller “unisusu“, who has identified himself as Luke Harrison, grandson of Norman Harrison and son of Paul Harrison, has been selling entertainment memorabilia with Norank Engineering/Elstree Props/”Danziger Collection” lineage/provenance. Also of interest is the website norank.co.uk, more presumably unlicensed replica props attributed to Raiders of the Lost Ark, a large supply of gold-plated “production made” crew gifts from Walt Disney’s Return to Oz, and other newly produced (presumably unlicensed) “for sale” replica pieces from the same film. [Read more…]
In April, the “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty prop that has long been the focus of an ongoing investigation by the Original Prop Blog was determined to have in fact been made for and used in the 2004 Steven Spielberg film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks – not the 1968 science fiction classic Planet of the Apes. [Read more…]
In the wake of the death of Michael Jackson last Thursday, and the coincidental (long-scheduled) “Summer Sale” of original entertainment memorabilia which took place in Las Vegas over the following two days, the sale of 21 lots of Jackson-related memorabilia with provenance identified as from “The Collection of David Gest” has prompted significant mainstream media coverage as well as a threat of lawsuit by Mr. Gest. [Read more…]