"Violation of Intellectual property rights"?

[metropoliscomics]

I am glad the topic has been brought up because........

 

I was the first person to post a message in the CGC chatroom. Therefore, I am requesting that others stop stealing my idea and therefore, kindly rerain from posting future messages. If you choose to post a message, please be advised that I will be charging 13¢ per message.

 

and

 

I am the person who created the grading scale used by Overstreet and CGC. In the future, if one chooses to use one of my grades, I will hereby request a fee be paid to me of 2 1/2% of the value of said item.

 

My lawyers are ready for action.

 

My name is Stephen Fishler and I approved this message.

[ultimatevenom]

Hey BronzeBruce,

 

Thanks for filling us in on the details.

 

I have talked to Doug through PM for a while now and even though he does not share the same collecting preferences as me he still offered to use his contacts to help me achieve my collecting goals if i ever needed help.

 

He is one of the nicest guys in the hobby and i will definetely consign books when i get some if he will take them to strengthen his DC section.

 

As for ComicLink i have never dealt with them and and don't intend to in the near future.

[stynxno]

Every way I slice it, I don't think Comiclink has a chance in hell and this really looks like comiclink is just trying to muscle out pedigreecomics.

 

I've never dealt with Comiclink but this type of [!@#%^&^] will make sure that I never deal with them.

 

I think comiclink must be upset because pedigreecomics is so far superior to comiclink in terms of design and programming. It must suck to be upstaged on such a basic level. And the fact that pedigreecomics offers a lower fee and, from what other's have said, have offered a lot better product, it doesn't surprise me that comiclink tried to do this. A lot of companies try this and they sometimes get away with it. Hopefully comiclink won't.

[stynxno]

I am glad the topic has been brought up because........

 

I was the first person to post a message in the CGC chatroom. Therefore, I am requesting that others stop stealing my idea and therefore, kindly rerain from posting future messages. If you choose to post a message, please be advised that I will be charging 13¢ per message.

 

and

 

I am the person who created the grading scale used by Overstreet and CGC. In the future, if one chooses to use one of my grades, I will hereby request a fee be paid to me of 2 1/2% of the value of said item.

 

My lawyers are ready for action.

 

My name is Stephen Fishler and I approved this message.

 

 

I guess I'll have to start using the Spinal Tap comic book grading scale.

[hobbes]

[FlyingDonut]

I am glad this has finally been brought up, as I was the first person to list a CGC book on eBay, and the first to use the term "CGC Graded" in an auction link. Please note that all sellers on eBay who use this term have stolen my intellectual property, and I will be instructing my legal representatives, the firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, to be seeking out restitution for all useage of said intellectual property.

 

Of course, sellers are encouraged to license my intellectual property. Through my brokerage firm Gypsy, Tramp & Thief LLC, license arrangements can be made. While cash payments (in the form of non-sequential unmarked $20 bills) will be preferred, I will always accept 9.8 Bronze Age Fantastic Fours.

[metropoliscomics]

On a serious note, I would suggest that people stop posting messages that draw conclusions about this situation between Doug and Josh because we just don't have the info required to make a judgement. I do not take sides because I wasn't "there". I have an opinion but wil keep it to myself for now.

 

Steve

 

BTW, does anyone have any Buddy Wilson memorabilia for sale?

[goldust40]

BTW, does anyone have any Buddy Wilson memorabilia for sale?

 

Oh, loads. I just acquired his hat for a very reasonable sum along with an investment grade copy of X-Men 1.

 

You can have 'em both for $500,000.

 

PM me if you're interested.

[supapimp]

On a serious note, I would suggest that people stop posting messages that draw conclusions about this situation between Doug and Josh because we just don't have the info required to make a judgement. I do not take sides because I wasn't "there". I have an opinion but wil keep it to myself for now.

 

Steve

 

BTW, does anyone have any Buddy Wilson memorabilia for sale?

 

you wouldn't have to post that if you didn't post in this thread in the first place. but way to go on covering your tracks.

[Silver Surfer]

I am glad this has finally been brought up, as I was the first person to list a CGC book on eBay, and the first to use the term "CGC Graded" in an auction link. Please note that all sellers on eBay who use this term have stolen my intellectual property, and I will be instructing my legal representatives, the firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, to be seeking out restitution for all useage of said intellectual property.

 

Of course, sellers are encouraged to license my intellectual property. Through my brokerage firm Gypsy, Tramp & Thief LLC, license arrangements can be made. While cash payments (in the form of non-sequential unmarked $20 bills) will be preferred, I will always accept 9.8 Bronze Age Fantastic Fours.

 

[namisgr]

I, for one, will heed Mr. Fischler's advice and withold judgement, at least until I know more about the dispute. I seriously doubt the issue at hand is the "idea" of an internet bidding house for comics. After all, the Pacific Comic Exchange pre-dates Comiclink by several years, and used an approach not unlike that being used today by CL and Pedigree.

 

The issue of trade secrets, and the programs used to run the web sites is another matter entirely. It is not unreasonable for a web business run by custom-designed programs to consider information about those programs proprietary "trade secrets". I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about the programs that run the CL and Pedigree sites. With that being said, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility that Josh may be taking the stance that Doug may have used one or more "trade secrets" regarding these programs to establish his competing business.

 

Let's kick back and see what shakes out.

[Rocketeer]

...My thoughts are how long will it be before Josh's lawyers subpoena this thread to use against Doug showing how the BSD's of the comic industry are comparing the two websites as indeed similar?....that add was printed for more than a mechanism to vent off steam folks,...it was to stir the pot,...which you all did quite nicely,...I'd say it won't be long now before the good people at CGC are contacted by Mr. Nathanson's attorneys......

[comicwiz]

The issue of trade secrets, and the programs used to run the web sites is another matter entirely. It is not unreasonable for a web business run by custom-designed programs to consider information about those programs "trade secrets". I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about the programs that run the CL and Pedigree sites. With that being said, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility that Josh may be taking the stance that Doug may have used one or more "trade secrets" regarding these programs to establish his competing business.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you here namisgr, purely on principle. Having worked in the area of software development for nearly 9 years, and most of those years in web-based application development, I can tell you that there is very little being built from a b-to-b or e-commerce development standpoint that does not somehow derive from some other available software process or application.

 

Application dev/design studios these days can very rarely justify expending the man hours, resources, and imagination to come-up with original application development and design work for their customers. These days, even custom jobs are based on some open framework that is either shared publicly (GPL's), or designed with some borrowed process or framework in mind. Much like a musician with a trained ear for identifying a riff, anyone who has built enough web-based applications in any number of different scripting languages could probably source the first use of that -script, and its origin.

 

Although this is a very crude example, if you look for instance at CL's button/navigation system, one could argue that it closely resembles Amazon's navigation and basic site layout. But then again, there are tonne's of other sites that have done this as well -- how do you begin clamping down on this sort of design borrowing? And when does borrowing begin to cross the line of flattery, and into the realm of infringement? Whether this was an example of an intentional design rip-off or not, it is my professional opinion that a strong case of derivation could be made between CL and Amazon. Ultimately, this is a question that would need to be asked to the authors of the CL site, and likely by only someone who might feel it was worth their while to pursue the matter.

 

To somehow determine that company A is infringing on company B's manner of trade, from a technological point of view, is very, very difficult to prove in technology war room. I cannot imagine it would be any easier in a courtroom. There are several sites that I can think of right of the top of my head that make available free auction scripting software that is pretty much built on eBay's auction system. These sites are running with general public license agreements, meaning that anyone can use the scripts freely, with the only limitation being that the software not be used for commercial purposes. Here is an example of such a site.

[OldGuy]

it was to stir the pot,...which you all did quite nicely,...

 

All? Let's not over state it now.

[Rocketeer]

it was to stir the pot,...which you all did quite nicely,...

 

All? Let's not over state it now.

 

...Ok,..everyone but Oldguy.....

[Red Hook]

For the record I recently received an order from Comiclink two days after I sent in payment. I have also bought several thousand dollars worth of books from Doug. The best outcome is for the consumer to have a choice.

 

If, and I restate "if" Josh has indeed been trying to muscle Doug, there are two conclusions I can easily come to.....

 

#1: He picked the wrong guy to mess with.

 

#2: He will end up losing a ton of business over this, including mine.

 

I hope that what has been posted here is not true. Has Josh filed a patent on his site structure? Has he copyrighted his idea?

 

[Illiterati-migration]

it was to stir the pot,...which you all did quite nicely,...

 

All? Let's not over state it now.

 

...Ok,..everyone but Oldguy.....

 

And Khaos.

[stynxno]

The issue of trade secrets, and the programs used to run the web sites is another matter entirely. It is not unreasonable for a web business run by custom-designed programs to consider information about those programs "trade secrets". I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about the programs that run the CL and Pedigree sites. With that being said, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility that Josh may be taking the stance that Doug may have used one or more "trade secrets" regarding these programs to establish his competing business.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you here namisgr, purely on principle. Having worked in the area of software development for nearly 9 years, and most of those years in web-based application development, I can tell you that there is very little being built from a b-to-b or e-commerce development standpoint that does not somehow derive from some other available software process or application.

 

Application dev/design studios these days can very rarely justify expending the man hours, resources, and imagination to come-up with original application development and design work for their customers. These days, even custom jobs are based on some open framework that is either shared publicly (GPL's), or designed with some borrowed process or framework in mind. Much like a musician with a trained ear for identifying a riff, anyone who has built enough web-based applications in any number of different scripting languages could probably source the first use of that -script, and its origin.

 

Although this is a very crude example, if you look for instance at CL's button/navigation system, one could argue that it closely resembles Amazon's navigation and basic site layout. But then again, there are tonne's of other sites that have done this as well -- how do you begin clamping down on this sort of design borrowing? And when does borrowing begin to cross the line of flattery, and into the realm of infringement? Whether this was an example of an intentional design rip-off or not, it is my professional opinion that a strong case of derivation could be made between CL and Amazon. Ultimately, this is a question that would need to be asked to the authors of the CL site, and likely by only someone who might feel it was worth their while to pursue the matter.

 

To somehow determine that company A is infringing on company B's manner of trade, from a technological point of view, is very, very difficult to prove in technology war room. I cannot imagine it would be any easier in a courtroom. There are several sites that I can think of right of the top of my head that make available free auction scripting software that is pretty much built on eBay's auction system. These sites are running with general public license agreements, meaning that anyone can use the scripts freely, with the only limitation being that the software not be used for commercial purposes. Here is an example of such a site.

 

I agree with comicwhiz. Also, if he is truly getting upset over the actual code of the website, I don't think that you can consider code as "Intellectual Property". The code is something "physical". You can argue that someone stole your web-layout or your web code but to prove it is rather difficult (unless the person who stole it is a real insufficiently_thoughtful_person). For the first point, both sites appear to be run with different web scripting languages. However, both languages are based on C so you could argue that the coding standards for both are similiar and argue that the framework of one program was copied by the other (and the actual auction processing code could be written in other languages hidden from public view). But I don't think that is arguing intellectual property. If you assume that the ad is correct and that Comiclink is complaining about IP, you'd have to take a look at the overall "belief system" or business processes of the site. For example, Spider-Man is intellecutal property but the movie Spider-man isn't. Copying the website's code is like copying a dvd. The dvd isn't the intellectual property; it's the physical manifestation of the intellectual property.

 

So unless I get more information, I really don't know what Comiclink is complaining about. They could argue about the type of auction / consignment site that is run but then, as was mentioned above, his wasn't the first and the type of auction isn't his property, unless he patented it. And even then, his patent could be thrown out since I really don't think that this type of auction was "invented" by him.

[supapimp]

isn't first rule of a case involving lawyers is you don't talk about the case?

[The Brain]

isn't first rule of a case involving lawyers is you don't talk about the case?

 

 

 

 

THAT'S "FIGHT CLUB"

 

 

 

 

 

 

I WAS NEVER HERE......