eBay is committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of third parties and to providing its users with a safe place to trade. eBay created the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program so that intellectual property owners could easily report listings that infringe their rights. It is in eBay’s interest to ensure that infringing items are removed from the site, as they erode buyer and seller trust.
If you are a Verified Rights Owner and want to report a listing issue, see Reporting Intellectual Property Infringements.
To avoid creating listings that would infringe on intellectual property rights:
Listings removed through VeRO
If your listing was removed through VeRO, and you believe that your listing was removed in error, eBay suggests that you first try to contact the rights owner directly. (The email notifying you that your listing had been removed should have included the rights owner's email address.) Only the rights owner understands their products and intellectual property rights. If the rights owner agrees that they made a mistake, have them email eBay and eBay will allow you to re-list your item.
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Avoid having your listing removed through VeRO in the future. Review the list of VeRO Program Participant About Me pages. Participants have created an About Me page that contains information designed to help you understand why they requested the removal of your listing.
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How eBay helps to ensure that listings aren’t mistakenly removed. A rights owner reporting through VeRO must be registered through VeRO before reporting items to us. Rights owners sign legally binding documents when reporting items to eBay.
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How your personal information may be released. eBay will never give out your credit card information, except in rare cases when required by a court, or law enforcement agency. However, eBay’s Privacy Policy states, "we can (and you authorize us to) disclose your User ID, name, street address, city, state, zip code, country, phone number, email, and company name to eBay VeRO Program participants as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity."
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Filing a Copyright Counter Notice. For listings that have been removed at the request of the rights owner for copyright infringement, you may have the option of filing a Counter Notice with eBay if you feel that your listings were removed in error and you have not been able to come to an agreement with the rights owner.
A Counter Notice is a form provided by eBay in compliance with the requirements of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The form is a legal document that requires you to, among other things, certify under sworn penalty of perjury that your listings were not infringing and were removed by mistake or misidentification. When you sign a Counter Notice, you will also have to consent to federal jurisdiction and service of process. Please read this form carefully, so you fully understand what you agree to if you choose to submit it to eBay.
Once a valid Counter Notice is submitted, eBay will provide a copy of the notice to the reporting party and will advise them that the listings will be reinstated after 10 business days if we do not hear from the reporting party that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain you from re-listing the items.
If you are interested in filing a counter notification, please click on the “email us” link below and provide us with additional information regarding your appeal.
Do you understand the rights owner’s claim, understand eBay’s policies, and still believe that the rights owner made a mistake in reporting your listing? If so, please email us.
