To ascertain whether you have ebook resell rights, the first thing you should do is check the first few pages of that ebook for a resell rights notice. If you do have ebook resell rights then you should find a notice such as “You have Full Resell Rights to this Ebook. You may resell it for any price you wish.” If you do not find a resell rights notice in the ebook then DO NOT risk reselling it. The person who sold it to you could be reselling it illegally. On the other hand they could be selling it legally and the ebooks resale rights basically doesn’t have a resell rights notice, but it’s not worth the risk. If you do find a resell rights notice then the chances are that you do in fact have ebook resell rights.
Identifying ebook resell rights
Identifying ebook resell rights may seem like a no brainer. However, when I started selling ebooks on eBay I did not know how to be truly sure that I possessed the resell rights to an item I was selling. It’s a topic I overlooked until a customer asked me “How do I know if an ebooks with resale rights has resell rights?” I felt that it was a lovely query which I haven’t adequately addressed previously so here goes.
In situations like this there isn’t much you can do. I recommend you remove the listing immediately (if eBay has not already done it) and then send an apology to the copyright holder explaining that you were under the impression that you had ebook resale rights, and if you knew the material was copyright you wouldn’t have listed it for sale.
However, beware as this is not always the case. Sometimes ebooks that do have a resell rights notice are not actually resellable. I’ve been contacted by eBay’s Vero department on a small number of occasions stating that they have removed my auctions because I did not have the resell rights to the item in query. I was under the impression that I did have resale rights to these ebooks with resell rights. An example of this is David Blaine’s Mega Magic Ebook Resell Rights. Inside this particular ebook there’s a resell rights notice. However, eBay’s Vero department informed me that a certain magic company (I can’t remember the name), had the rights to the use of David Blaine in printed media. Remember the simple rules:
- No Resell Rights Notice – Don’t list the item for sale.
- If eBay Vero contact you – Apologize and remove the listing from eBay.
The purpose of this editorial is to inform you and not to scare you. eBay’s Vero department have contacted me few times regarding ebook removal / copyright violation and i am sure it is a rare occurrence for all eBay ebook resell rights sellers. However, by following the information in this editorial you should minimise the chance of eBay’s Vero department contacting you, and also know how to respond if they do contact you.
