• What is VeRO
eBay's Verified Rights Owners Program (VeRO) was developed to facilitate cooperation between the eBay community and intellectual property rights owners who believe that certain listings or items for sale violate their rights
or
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/community/png-endauction.html
Why was my auction ended by eBay Canada?
If your listing was ended early by eBay, it probably means that the item you were selling or the listing itself was either:
1. prohibited by law
2. prohibited by eBay's policies or
3. identified as infringing somebody's copyright, trademark or other rights.
We do not generally monitor our site looking for particular items, but we often receive reports from eBay users and third parties, as well as individuals and companies who are members of our Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Programme. More on VeRO below. Here's what we do with the information:
• If an auction offers an item prohibited by law or eBay's policies, we end the auction.
• If the auction offers an item which can be considered an "apparent" or "blatant" violation of someone's copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights ("infringing"), we end the auction.
• If the auction offers an allegedly infringing item, but eBay can't tell this by looking at the auction, we probably won't end it, but we will try to refer it to the owner of the rights involved.
• If the report comes from a rights owner participating in our VeRO Programme, we will review the item and, unless there is an obvious error, we will end the auction. eBay does not end every auction requested by a VeRO Programme Member.
In all cases where we end an auction early, we automatically credit the fees for that auction.
What is the VeRO Programme?
eBay established the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Programme (formerly known as the Legal Buddy Programme) to work with rights owners to educate eBay users about infringing items and to enable rights owners to request removal of allegedly infringing items. Our Programme is based upon a Federal statute. Before removing any item, eBay requires that VeRO Programme Members swear under penalty of perjury that they are authorised to represent the rights owner, and that they have a good faith belief that the identified auction violates their rights. eBay reviews the reported items and, unless there is an obvious error, ends the auction. If we fail to end an infringing auction, we may expose you and eBay to liability.
• What is not VeRO (i.e.: rights to sell the product in Canada…)
VeRO was not set up to deal with contractual matters between third parties, stolen item issues or prohibited items. It is only set up to deal with intellectual property related issues.
• Why do we have VeRO (is it for buyers' benefit or sellers' or the vendor)
This program benefits the eBay community, both buyers and sellers. It allows rights owners to notify eBay of potentially infringing listings, which in turn helps create a safer trading platform by cleaning up the site of infringing and counterfeit products. The removal of infringing items increases the overall legitimacy of the eBay marketplace This should also benefit legitimate sellers on eBay who will likely achieve higher prices for items that buyers are confident are legitimate
• How sellers can sell in Harmony with the VeRO program
Easily. Sell legitimate products. Create their own descriptions and take their own images of products. Avoid borrowing images or text from the internet (which are likely protected by copyright). Make sure all claims in your listing are true and accurate.
Read eBay’s “Copyright Basics*” web page located at:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/community/png-copyright-basics.html
• What to do if the seller has received a VeRO infraction
What if I disagree with the ending of my auction requested by a VeRO Programme Member? We encourage members who have questions about the removal of their items to contact the rights owner for clarification.
eBay requires that VeRO Members provide an email address so our users can contact the VeRO Member directly about the ending of their auctions. We also encourage VeRO Members to create an About Me page describing their policies, and we link this page to end auction notices.) Of course, eBay is available to help answer questions, but since only the rights owner understands their products and policies, eBay is often not able to resolve disputes. If you are not able to achieve satisfaction by contacting the rights owner directly, you can file a formal appeal with eBay. We will do our best to help resolve the situation. if the VeRO Programme Member consents, we will allow you to relist the item.
if an item is ended per the request of a rights owner through the VeRO Program, please do not relist this particular item until you have been able to discuss the issue further with the rights owner who reported the item as infringing. Repeat VeRO related violations could result in the suspension of your eBay membership
What will happen if I list or relist Prohibited, Questionable or Infringing Items on eBay?
You're asking for trouble. Not only can you get suspended from eBay, but you could be sued by a rights owner and prosecuted by criminal authorities. Believe us, it happens and we don't want it to happen to you.
• Where can the seller get more information about VeRO
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/community/vero-program.html
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/community/png-endauction.html
