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Why is Fiverr neglecting so many copyright infringements?


mariokluser

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It’s common knowledge that a very large percentage of gigs are infringing copyrights and trademarks. It’s not a question if it will happen, but when it will happen that there will be a major case issued.

It’s not just about the infringement of portrait rights and copyrights by using the image of a celebrity as profile image.

I just stumbled across a seemingly very populair gig who offers the creation of a MINION video. Dudes, really?
All the cuteness and work that goes into it aside. Monetizing someone else’s copyrighted and trademarked characters will not stay unpunished forever.

Universal Studio’s could shut your butt down big time for all the infringements.
Universal Studios Hollywood

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Copyright & Trademark

Welcome to Universal Studios Hollywood! Learn more about our incredible theme park attractions in California such as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and much more!

Didn’t Fiverr learn anything from the Amazon-review-debacle?

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Fiverr’s stance on IP is there, they give it quite some space in their policies, but of course we all know that many sellers don´t ever bother to read those, and many actually aren´t aware of IP existence (not meant as an excuse, they should know if they do business with such items/services, but most obviously many people have no idea of it being a thing).

Maybe a combination of mandatory multiple choice quiz that sellers have to pass if they want to sell in categories that typically are affected by this issue (or for all sellers even better, then maybe some would be deterred from using profile icons they have no right to use too), and a ‘flag this gig for IP/copyright infringement’ shortcut button/flag for gigs, to catch both those who do it because they just are unaware (inform/educate them via the multiple choice test), and those who purposefully do it (with the flagging).
It´s a question of how many staff fiverr can/wants to spare, I suppose.

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Fiverr’s stance on IP is there, they give it quite some space in their policies, but of course we all know that many sellers don´t ever bother to read those, and many actually aren´t aware of IP existence (not meant as an excuse, they should know if they do business with such items/services, but most obviously many people have no idea of it being a thing).

Maybe a combination of mandatory multiple choice quiz that sellers have to pass if they want to sell in categories that typically are affected by this issue (or for all sellers even better, then maybe some would be deterred from using profile icons they have no right to use too), and a ‘flag this gig for IP/copyright infringement’ shortcut button/flag for gigs, to catch both those who do it because they just are unaware (inform/educate them via the multiple choice test), and those who purposefully do it (with the flagging).

It´s a question of how many staff fiverr can/wants to spare, I suppose.

They are actually putting the businesses of buyers at risk who make use this IP sensitive gigs.

Therefore my earlier statements that it is extremely dangerous for professional businesses to make use of the gigs of this “pro’s” here. They can ruin a lot.

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I imagine it is the huge need for resources that this would require.
Consider how many people whine about not being able to use big site names (Amazon, Twitter, Facebook) in their gigs as they may be flagged. This is to combat review, like and follower sellers. How restrictive and difficult would it be if to include everything necessary in this list! Just take Disney alone for example, how big would that list be? The man (or woman) hours required would be astronomical. Similarly, checking through the gigs for this is a huge amount of time. Even if there was a report button to allow users report problem gigs, imagine how much this would be - not to mention the amount of incorrect flagging that would go on as desperate sellers try to eliminate their competition.
I do agree that this could cause a problem at some point and I hope Fiverr are looking at how to deal with it. My guess is that at the moment these type of gigs are not particularly hurting other companies in the way that fake reviews, likes and followers cast doubt over Amazon, Facebook and Twitter etc.

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I imagine it is the huge need for resources that this would require.

Consider how many people whine about not being able to use big site names (Amazon, Twitter, Facebook) in their gigs as they may be flagged. This is to combat review, like and follower sellers. How restrictive and difficult would it be if to include everything necessary in this list! Just take Disney alone for example, how big would that list be? The man (or woman) hours required would be astronomical. Similarly, checking through the gigs for this is a huge amount of time. Even if there was a report button to allow users report problem gigs, imagine how much this would be - not to mention the amount of incorrect flagging that would go on as desperate sellers try to eliminate their competition.

I do agree that this could cause a problem at some point and I hope Fiverr are looking at how to deal with it. My guess is that at the moment these type of gigs are not particularly hurting other companies in the way that fake reviews, likes and followers cast doubt over Amazon, Facebook and Twitter etc.

If one of these many designers steals a logo and sells it to unknowing buyer who then uses it for his business, it can hurt this buyers business a lot.

As for the example of Disney: it should be common sense that one can not monetize any Disney character in his gig or whatever other business.

But I find this ignorance also off-line. A snack bar not far from my home has Kung Fu Panda in the banner above their door. Recently I saw a small moving company with the Popeye on their vans. Being uneducated doesn’t prevent from punishment. Anyway, I think who acts so ignorant deserves to suffer the consequences.

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If one of these many designers steals a logo and sells it to unknowing buyer who then uses it for his business, it can hurt this buyers business a lot.

As for the example of Disney: it should be common sense that one can not monetize any Disney character in his gig or whatever other business.

But I find this ignorance also off-line. A snack bar not far from my home has Kung Fu Panda in the banner above their door. Recently I saw a small moving company with the Popeye on their vans. Being uneducated doesn’t prevent from punishment. Anyway, I think who acts so ignorant deserves to suffer the consequences.

Absolutely, I agree that it could be damaging to buyers and that ignorance is no excuse. Common sense is extremely uncommon, and some people just decide to take a chance on it regardless.

However to actually police the site effectively would be a huge undertaking and I think that is why it is not really being done.

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I know a place that deals with the same problem, and of course, like fiverr, can´t/don´t want to spend the workhours needed to police it. Users can flag items for IP infringement, and sometimes the items get pulled (users who bought them lose them actually in this case, even if they had no idea of them infringing IP/copryright of course - sure, not knowing doesn´t save you from being subject to laws, TOS etc.) sometimes not. Some IP right holders don´t care, as they see such things as free advertising, but I know of cases too, where the right holder had been informed by someone who noticed such an item up for sale, and filed for IP infringement.
There´s a lot of grey area too, which would be even harder to police than clear cases like a minion video. Clear cases though, while still needing someone to look through the flags and decide, would be pretty quick to handle. I have no idea though, how many actual ‘cases’ there are, and how many sellers might try to game their competition - perhaps not that many though, if false flagging would count against themselves.

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I am actually quite concerned about this. I am not sure about the legalities involved, but can Fiverr get sue because they allow this to happen or is it because they are just a platform then the sellers are the ones who are in trouble. My work is 100% original and custom so I am not at risk here, but if the platform becomes threatened then that is where the risk is for me. I hope the powers that be (who are aware) are actively trying to find a solution to this.

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I am actually quite concerned about this. I am not sure about the legalities involved, but can Fiverr get sue because they allow this to happen or is it because they are just a platform then the sellers are the ones who are in trouble. My work is 100% original and custom so I am not at risk here, but if the platform becomes threatened then that is where the risk is for me. I hope the powers that be (who are aware) are actively trying to find a solution to this.

The sellers who are infringing copyrights are in trouble.

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I know a place that deals with the same problem, and of course, like fiverr, can´t/don´t want to spend the workhours needed to police it. Users can flag items for IP infringement, and sometimes the items get pulled (users who bought them lose them actually in this case, even if they had no idea of them infringing IP/copryright of course - sure, not knowing doesn´t save you from being subject to laws, TOS etc.) sometimes not. Some IP right holders don´t care, as they see such things as free advertising, but I know of cases too, where the right holder had been informed by someone who noticed such an item up for sale, and filed for IP infringement.

There´s a lot of grey area too, which would be even harder to police than clear cases like a minion video. Clear cases though, while still needing someone to look through the flags and decide, would be pretty quick to handle. I have no idea though, how many actual ‘cases’ there are, and how many sellers might try to game their competition - perhaps not that many though, if false flagging would count against themselves.

I once saw a Photoshop tutorial on Youtube where a National Geographic photograph of one of my mentors was used. As only the copyright owner can file a claim, I reached out to him immediately and two ours later the video was gone.

Certainly I’m not willing to police here, nor anywhere else, but if I see copyrights of my mates, mentors or myself infringed, I take action and go to the max with that.

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The sellers who are infringing copyrights are in trouble.

You could say that about a lot of places – i.e. Youtube. There are tons of copyright infringements on youtube but even with google wealthy resources they can’t stop it. I imagine Fiverr is aware of it and it is a matter of knowing when it occurs. I’m sure Fiverr counts on the millions of eyes from their members to help with this problem.

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You could say that about a lot of places – i.e. Youtube. There are tons of copyright infringements on youtube but even with google wealthy resources they can’t stop it. I imagine Fiverr is aware of it and it is a matter of knowing when it occurs. I’m sure Fiverr counts on the millions of eyes from their members to help with this problem.

Youtube is very well policed. There are very good procedures to file copyright claims and there are lot of policies. Some of them are for the ‘normal’ visitor not visible. For example: if somebody uploads a music video without having any rights to it, the right owner has many choices what to do with it. In most cases they decide to leave the video on-line or restrict the regions where it can be seen and all the monetization goes to the copyright owner.

When it comes to covers of songs, they provide the possibility of revenue sharing if illegible. I for example played a short frase of Bob Marely’s ‘Exodus’ on my guitar and the revenue of the video is shared with the owners.

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Youtube is very well policed. There are very good procedures to file copyright claims and there are lot of policies. Some of them are for the ‘normal’ visitor not visible. For example: if somebody uploads a music video without having any rights to it, the right owner has many choices what to do with it. In most cases they decide to leave the video on-line or restrict the regions where it can be seen and all the monetization goes to the copyright owner.

When it comes to covers of songs, they provide the possibility of revenue sharing if illegible. I for example played a short frase of Bob Marely’s ‘Exodus’ on my guitar and the revenue of the video is shared with the owners.

Link for your Bob Marley cover please.

Video or it didn’t happen!

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‘The regions where it can´t be seen’ that’s the Bundesländer of Germany lol

Really interesting information, I had no idea about the monetization sharing possibility. Also I second Eoin’s demand. 🎸

Ridiculously enough a lot of video’s are blocked in Germany because of the GEMA, who pretend to protect the artists interests, while Youtube has enough protection and arrangements with the music industry and artists world wide. One of the best examples is VEVO. Always if you want to make sure you see the original video of your favorite musicians go to their VEVO-channel on Youtube. I noticed that the GEMA even blocked some of them. The only thing that GEMA in the case of Youtube does is securing their own incomes. The Dutch counterpart of GEMA, BUMA STEMRA doesn’t show any this weird behavior. But I think that in Germany there is still the GEZ, so you pay a yearly fee for public television.

In the Netherlands thy put an end to this more than 20 years ago and they also payed the money back they already received for that year.

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Ridiculously enough a lot of video’s are blocked in Germany because of the GEMA, who pretend to protect the artists interests, while Youtube has enough protection and arrangements with the music industry and artists world wide. One of the best examples is VEVO. Always if you want to make sure you see the original video of your favorite musicians go to their VEVO-channel on Youtube. I noticed that the GEMA even blocked some of them. The only thing that GEMA in the case of Youtube does is securing their own incomes. The Dutch counterpart of GEMA, BUMA STEMRA doesn’t show any this weird behavior. But I think that in Germany there is still the GEZ, so you pay a yearly fee for public television.

In the Netherlands thy put an end to this more than 20 years ago and they also payed the money back they already received for that year.

Yes, I´m pretty sure youtube respectively the GEMA is one of the major reasons for Germans to use VPN, and the GEZ, most everyone hates it, it´s harder to get out of having to pay the GEZ fees than taxes. I read a book that mentioned a guy who tried a new creative way to not pay GEZ by insisting on wanting to pay in cash recently, unfortunately the story didn´t tell if he was successful or not.

35 😛

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Wow @mariokluser that’s a great post, actually I tried too to talk about report the copyright infringements because I see that so many sellers provide stolen work here and earn income doing this
here is my post VOTE: REPORT gig button
BUT due to my troubles with english language barrier couldn’t show enough what I wanted to support so you said it billion times better and on point so, my appreciation and hope Fiverr take action as soon as possible against those people.

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I once saw a Photoshop tutorial on Youtube where a National Geographic photograph of one of my mentors was used. As only the copyright owner can file a claim, I reached out to him immediately and two ours later the video was gone.

Certainly I’m not willing to police here, nor anywhere else, but if I see copyrights of my mates, mentors or myself infringed, I take action and go to the max with that.

Certainly I’m not willing to police here

popo.jpg.b822c5cd720e0b4fdec6aaef59cf4751.jpg


IP protection would not be available and Fiverr will NOT be responsible, because mostly out of U.S sellers commit the infringements here.

Since Fiverr is ONLY a mediator between 2 individual parties doing business here, they are not liable for any violations.

Since most under-developed/developing nations has NO such law for violation of IP, going to the law to seek retribution would not also function.

Youtube works since you are dealing with Youtube directly and they are owned by Google a company with a much much larger reach across the globe.

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Certainly I’m not willing to police here

78debb4380fa9e9fee9293f9f5c78c1fe2eacdbe.jpg


IP protection would not be available and Fiverr will NOT be responsible, because mostly out of U.S sellers commit the infringements here.

Since Fiverr is ONLY a mediator between 2 individual parties doing business here, they are not liable for any violations.

Since most under-developed/developing nations has NO such law for violation of IP, going to the law to seek retribution would not also function.

Youtube works since you are dealing with Youtube directly and they are owned by Google a company with a much much larger reach across the globe.

In all developed countries the US copyright laws are accepted. However, a judge will not file a case if you did not register your work at http://copyright.gov (<- More information on how to register your stuff on that side).

If you have registered your stuff, there are some sharks of lawyers who are eager to sue the heck out the violators.

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