prowla

Well, I posed the question and then there was a frenzy of responses, questions demanding answers, and so-on, to which I replied. Why do you want to know whether I've bought a fake? I've mentioned a couple of instances of knowing people being stung; surely that's sufficient. Let me ask you a question: Do you think a site is for the benefit of the sellers or the buyers? And another: Do you think that if someone spots something wrong they should just walk away because it's none of their business, or should they flag it up? As for your last question, that is just too sneery to deserve a response.

I think they're out real soon now (pre-orders are being taken). I assume they'll have a USB connection, rather than being a direct re-implementation of the 70s?

That's OK, you can draw your own conclusions; if I see something peddling fake wares as I am browsing, I will call it out. Actually, I started this thread after visiting the for-sale one and also after noticing the revised T&Cs of another site. I think that the outcome may be microsocopic work for the mods (max 1 item per day, quickly despatched) for a significant gain (not providing a patform for the sale of illegal goods) and that would make this a better place to be.

There is no nefarious agenda - a question was asked and a load of people jumped in. The guesstimate is maybe 1% of ads. And the protection for unwitting buyers should be a positive.

In this case, the Fender logo is there, put there by Fender, so no need to do anything (provided it's not being sold as a Fender instrument).

My guess was 1%. It's a problem that can be dealt with.

Again, no different to ebay, Friday Ads, and others.

The pragmatic approach for dealing with it. It's the same in real-life; the police only respond when an issue is raised; they cannot and do not verify every single item on sale throughout the land beforehand. I think that reacting, within the rules, is a genuine real-world, pragmatic approach.

Nashnull

Yes, I see what you are saying and indeed it is indeed up to the site admins/owners to rule. Overt things which are easy to spot should be easy to deal with, like the items I previously listed. ebay's stance seems to be to rely on people reporting things, which would seem a pragmatic approach; I'm not sure if they require multiple reports to react, or what (I think MSE does in reporting spam).

I have a Minitaur; it's a little one-dimensional, ie. it does the Taurus sound, so if that's what you want then it's great. Behringer are just about to release their Minimoog clone, so that's another option; I think they're going to fly off the shelves!

I've just joined the Elf club! A good price on ebay, made even better by their 20% off code (PNY2018, use by 6 o'clock today)!

Incidentally, if folks are interested, there's a 20% off ebay code, use by 6 o'clock; just enter code PNY2018 at checkout!

Selling fakes - uh-huh. I've a feeling that things might work out re. the Limelight one; I certainly didn't know the brand before...

As has been noted and repeated - the rules are already in place. People who are posting the fakes/counterfeits are breaking the site rules (which they signed up and agreed to on joining).

So I guess it had a fake TRC.

I think it's so rife with Fender-alikes that they have to choose their battles. The likelihood of them pursuing a BC-er through the courts for selling counterfeit items is probably quite low.

I do recall commenting on one this week where someone was trying to sell a Chickenbacker for more than its new price - was that it? There was another thread recently on FB where someone bought a Rickenbacker bass from a mate; sadly we had to inform him that it wasn't a genuine Rickenbacker. Given the choice, I'd rather help make sure some schmuck doesn't pay over the odds for a fake, as opposed to supporting or turning a blind-eye to someone selling illegal goods.

And that is an opinion to which you are entitled. However, it is still illegal.

Well, whether it's worthy of debate is plainly evidenced by the fact that we're on page 22 and you're participating! The fact is that selling a Limelight with a Fender logo on it is illegal; the laws have been quoted and linked and an ex-policeman has initially argued against, but then come back and posted that yes it is illegal. Whether someone has been intentionally duped is not entirely the question, but it is an illustration that illegal items are being sold; a few other similar items were also listed, showing that the sale of such illegal items is not a one-off.

The nuclear option was not the intent. For reasons already covered, the Ric solution does not apply to other brands, ie. because Ric police their entire design as IP, whereas others do not; therefore anything that looks like a Ric is in scope, whereas anything that looks like a Fender is not. ebay and other sites have such a policy, but they still sell items, so there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater; their process is to react to alerts from members and/or interested parties. As you've pointed out, the rules already exist anyway, and also you've said that flagging up these illegal items will be actioned. I think that the numbers are maybe 1%, so it's not like this is a haven of counterfeiters plying their wares. So no, I don't think the Ric solution should be applied across the board.

Putting a fake logo on a bass and selling it is illegal - that's the point!

You are inventing things there and exaggerating to the point of being ridiculous.

Yep (and possibly to sell it for more money!)

Cort are contracted by Fender to manufacture certain models in their range and to produce them with the authorised logos. The trademark issue is in the use of unauthorised logos.