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Pssst, Rickenbackers can now be sold in BC classifieds!


Downunderwonder

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If you don't read Site News or the For Sale stickies you may well have missed the grand experiment announcement.

 

By popular demand, original Rickenbacker product may again be traded.

 

No copy stuff! Copy stuff will be summarily deleted but if detected by the new King Rick may result in further legal nastiness and no more Rickenbacker trading forever.

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😎 Listing of Rickenbacker products:  Listings for copies of Rickenbacker products are not permitted.  Listings selling or otherwise trading, soliciting or exposing for sale any GENUINE Rickenbacker products are permitted but currently under trial.  The ban that was in place until January 2022 may be reimposed in the event of further threats from Rickenbacker.

 

I foresee a lot of wrangling over how close to the wind one may sail. Is this a copy?

 

14396889_800.jpg

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It's a Harley Benson, on sale on the Thomann website, and so presumably safe from Rickenbacker's lawyers. If that bass was offered here, would all be fine? It's clearly a copy of a Rickenbacker, but deliberately incorrect enough to dodge copyright.

 

If this kind of bass is permitted, someone is going to have to examine every Rick-ish advert, but without the benefit of advice from Thomann's legal team

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32 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

That's how I guess the enforcement will operate. Looks like a duck, it's a duck, next, has a bill and feathers, it's a duck, next, has beady eyes waddles and begs for scraps, duck!

Tastes great with Hoisin Sauce - yep it’s definitely a duck 😂

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1 hour ago, Ricky Rioli said:

😎 Listing of Rickenbacker products:  Listings for copies of Rickenbacker products are not permitted.  Listings selling or otherwise trading, soliciting or exposing for sale any GENUINE Rickenbacker products are permitted but currently under trial.  The ban that was in place until January 2022 may be reimposed in the event of further threats from Rickenbacker.

 

I foresee a lot of wrangling over how close to the wind one may sail. Is this a copy?

 

14396889_800.jpg

Genuine Rickenbacker basses are temporarily being allowed, but that's it.  Everything else that is pulled now, will continue to be pulled.  

 

Direct answer; yes, that would have been banned before and as such it still would not be allowed.

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1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

The HB is more of a loose tribute than a copy IMO. 

Without an agreed legal definition with Rickenbacker there can't be a line drawn by BC between allowable tributes and copies.

 

Rickenbacker declined to play ball last time around. Expectations are non existent for them to provide a tribute guideline, or allow a reasonable timeframe for taking down infringing items.

 

If you think it might be mistaken for a Rick after ten pints, it's probably not going to fly. There won't be any discussion, it will be gone.

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Correct.

 

In truth, it is really quite rare that we have to take down an advert for a Ric copy.  And there is no reason for that to change; the rules are exactly the same.  If you don't have a genuine Ric to sell, nothing has changed.

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3 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

It's a Harley Benson, on sale on the Thomann website, and so presumably safe from Rickenbacker's lawyers. If that bass was offered here, would all be fine? It's clearly a copy of a Rickenbacker, but deliberately incorrect enough to dodge copyright.

 

If this kind of bass is permitted, someone is going to have to examine every Rick-ish advert, but without the benefit of advice from Thomann's legal team

I think it's fairer to say, as indeed do Thomann, that it is inspired by the Rick-O rather than an attempt at a copy. It generally resembles the real thing, but does not actually look like the real thing, is not trying to pass itself off as the real thing, and no way is anyone ever going to be daft enough to believe its the real thing.

 

As an aside, the HB is a very nice bass in its own right.

Edited by Bassfinger
Bought a fake by mistake
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6 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

😎 Listing of Rickenbacker products:  Listings for copies of Rickenbacker products are not permitted.  Listings selling or otherwise trading, soliciting or exposing for sale any GENUINE Rickenbacker products are permitted but currently under trial.  The ban that was in place until January 2022 may be reimposed in the event of further threats from Rickenbacker.

 

I foresee a lot of wrangling over how close to the wind one may sail. Is this a copy?

 

14396889_800.jpg

 

This doesn't infringe any of RIC's trademark designs - see here:

 

https://www.trademarkia.com/company-rickenbacker-international-corporation-1038176-page-1-2

 

The only thing that's a direct copy is the scratchplate - which RIC never registered, so anyone can use. Although I don't know why anyone would because it's an ugly, design-free afterthought. So no, it's  'inspired by' or influenced by', but doesn't constitute what RIC would legally consider a copy or counterfeit. I doubt they like it, but there's nowt they can do.

 

However I don't think anyone would blame BC's High Hiedyins if they said nope.

 

Edited by Bassassin
mor wurds
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8 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

it's fairer to say, as indeed do Thomann, that it is inspired by the Rick-O rather than an attempt at a copy.

 

It reminds me of when you would copy your friend's homework, and would add extra mistakes so that the teacher wouldn't notice. I would say it's an attempt to get as close as is legally permissible to a copy. Given the Fender and Musicman copies they sell, we can be sure that if Rickenbacker didn't defend their intellectual property, Thomann would be contentedly pinching it wholesale. 

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No, not really. Anyone who has only £180 to spend on an HB bass will not be in the market for a Rick-O.   They haven't pinched a single penny from Rickenbacker's wallet with that one, and thats the different.

 

Sure, its obvious from where the inspritation came, but thats as far as it goes. Its not trying to look just like one, or be a copy of one, or fool someone into thinking it is one so they get ripped off - even teacher could tell the difference when marking that particular homework.

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I would have much preferred to sell my 4003 last month on BC but was forced into using eBay. While it did eventually sell to a nice guy, I got some absurd offers and a request to meet somewhere unspecified and get payment in cash (yeah right ... )

Edited by Clarky
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31 minutes ago, Clarky said:

I would have much preferred to sell my 4003 last month on BC but was forced into using eBay. While it did eventually sell to a nice guy, I got some absurd offers and a request to meet somewhere unspecified and get payment in cash (yeah right ... )

I meet people behind those bins all the time, dunno what you were so worried about

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