As most of you know, I have a certain site that deals with Queen autographs, especially fakes - www.QueenAutographs.com. Now I've been getting A LOT of threats from dealers of fake autographs recently. They want to sue me, to cut my legs off, to force ebay close my account etc. etc. Could any lawyer browse my site thoroughly and let me know if there's anything illegal there? I tried to write all accusations as "my opinion only" but I may have overlooked something. Thanks in advance.
(Btw. it seems like "my lawyer will call you" is a common sentence in the USA, something like "how are you" in other countries... :-)
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You've used images of their fakes without their kind permissions! ;) You should write to Brian about that - he seems to be against of the selling autographs' business.
I can't write to Brian if I claim on my site that the fan club faked autographs :-) Without any doubt Brian would support the fan club, not me...
Just show him tickets to WWRY with his fake autographs - and he's yours :)
Put everywhere on the site something like "Webmaster makes no fortune out of recognizing fake and real autographs, everything written on this site is personal opinion of webmaster, final judgement about authenticity can be stand only by musicians themselves or the court, bla-bla-bla" - you wrote about it in other words though... Remove word "fake" - name them "suspicious"... I don't know... I just help this thread to stay on the top in the Serious forum :) I'm not sure if someone can (and will) sue for the such things.
Put everywhere on the site something like "Webmaster makes no fortune out of recognizing fake and real autographs, everything written on this site is personal opinion of webmaster, final judgement about authenticity can be stand only by musicians themselves or the court, bla-bla-bla" - you wrote about it in other words though... Remove word "fake" - name them "suspicious"... I don't know... I just help this thread to stay on the top in the Serious forum :) I'm not sure if someone can (and will) sue for the such things.
Hmmm.... interesting... law student here... not (yet) a lawyer though) :-)
My first thougts would be that I really don't think you have to worry about the threats of autograph dealers. THEY actually are the ones who should worry.. (committing fraude by selling fake autographs)
BUT...on the otherhand... If I where them I would defend myself by saying that it is contumely (dunno if that's the correct word... in The Netherlands it's called "smaad" ) that you are accusing the dealers of committing fraude (by putting their ads marked as fake on your website and naming their names in the "hall of shame" gallery)
The question here is not who is doing the correct thing (cause we all know YOU are) but which rights prevail. OK, you have freedom of speech, but does that freedom of speech also mean you have the right to accuse the autograph dealers of selling fakes, committing fraude if you like, (regardless wether you are telling the truth or not) OR is that contumely behaviour?
I'm really not an expert on these kinda things, but I think putting a disclaimer on the website could be a thing to consider. ("this site is for informational purposes only, expressing my opinions....blablabla..") Something like the text you already did put online:
"My only goal is to help you recognize genuine signed Queen items from fakes. I don't sell autographs, I'm not a dealer, I have no profit from this website (the google ads help to pay for the web hosting). I'm just an angry Queen fan who is disgusted by the amount of fakes that are for sale on various sites, especially on eBay. I want to persuade you to ignore any certificates, I want to show you differences between genuine and fake autographs, I want to get rid of all the dealers of fake signatures!"
Hope it is of any help. Good luck with your websites. I think you are doing an excellent job!
My first thougts would be that I really don't think you have to worry about the threats of autograph dealers. THEY actually are the ones who should worry.. (committing fraude by selling fake autographs)
BUT...on the otherhand... If I where them I would defend myself by saying that it is contumely (dunno if that's the correct word... in The Netherlands it's called "smaad" ) that you are accusing the dealers of committing fraude (by putting their ads marked as fake on your website and naming their names in the "hall of shame" gallery)
The question here is not who is doing the correct thing (cause we all know YOU are) but which rights prevail. OK, you have freedom of speech, but does that freedom of speech also mean you have the right to accuse the autograph dealers of selling fakes, committing fraude if you like, (regardless wether you are telling the truth or not) OR is that contumely behaviour?
I'm really not an expert on these kinda things, but I think putting a disclaimer on the website could be a thing to consider. ("this site is for informational purposes only, expressing my opinions....blablabla..") Something like the text you already did put online:
"My only goal is to help you recognize genuine signed Queen items from fakes. I don't sell autographs, I'm not a dealer, I have no profit from this website (the google ads help to pay for the web hosting). I'm just an angry Queen fan who is disgusted by the amount of fakes that are for sale on various sites, especially on eBay. I want to persuade you to ignore any certificates, I want to show you differences between genuine and fake autographs, I want to get rid of all the dealers of fake signatures!"
Hope it is of any help. Good luck with your websites. I think you are doing an excellent job!
Martine, pritelska rada : Fuck 'em all !
You are doing NOTHING againts czech laws and NOTHING againts international treaties - at least with the autograph website :-)
You are doing NOTHING againts czech laws and NOTHING againts international treaties - at least with the autograph website :-)
Thanks for your post, Ducksoup.
Indeed, I will put a disclaimer in the bottom to make sure everybody understands what it's all about. I know accusing them of faking is not 100% legal but saying "I think this one is fake" should be OK even in the USA :-)
One guy (who wrote me about "cutting your fucking balls off) also claims to be a friend of Roger... nice friends this Roger has :-)
pittrek - taky se prilis neobavam, ze by na me Interpol vyhlasil zatykac kvuli takovehle picovine :-)
Indeed, I will put a disclaimer in the bottom to make sure everybody understands what it's all about. I know accusing them of faking is not 100% legal but saying "I think this one is fake" should be OK even in the USA :-)
One guy (who wrote me about "cutting your fucking balls off) also claims to be a friend of Roger... nice friends this Roger has :-)
pittrek - taky se prilis neobavam, ze by na me Interpol vyhlasil zatykac kvuli takovehle picovine :-)
Mr. Scully...i have a question. How long have you been a collector of Queen autographs?
I'm not a collector of Queen autographs, I have only those I've got personally :-) But I've been "studying" Queen autographs for the past 7 years or so.
Mr. Scully,
You may be better off just having a section of the site that is titles "What I Believe To Be Fake Signatures". You can then upload images and add web links, but don't put up any captions or commentary against any of them. This way, you are not *directly* accusing them of anything, but the inferance is there for anyone that cares to look.
Then, in another section of your site, you couls have a "Genuine Signatures" section and then go to town explaining the difference between the real and the fake, but not making actual reference to the other section.
Anyone then can make a comparison IF THEY CHOOSE, but the crucial thing is that you have not named or accused anyone directly. It *could* be argued that you are slandering specific dealers, but if they are hiding behind a pseudonym, they really can't complain.
You may be better off just having a section of the site that is titles "What I Believe To Be Fake Signatures". You can then upload images and add web links, but don't put up any captions or commentary against any of them. This way, you are not *directly* accusing them of anything, but the inferance is there for anyone that cares to look.
Then, in another section of your site, you couls have a "Genuine Signatures" section and then go to town explaining the difference between the real and the fake, but not making actual reference to the other section.
Anyone then can make a comparison IF THEY CHOOSE, but the crucial thing is that you have not named or accused anyone directly. It *could* be argued that you are slandering specific dealers, but if they are hiding behind a pseudonym, they really can't complain.
Well, somebody needs to call those assholes out on ebay. It's obvious that ebay doesn't care whether or not the signatures are fakes. I've tried reporting fakes before to no avail.
Martin, would you be interested in a scan of an autograph by Roger on a Bulgarian flag. I think you saw it in Budapest. It's unusual (I think!), because Roger drew a smiley face next to his signature.
V.
V.
Sorry, when I posted the above message I hadn't noticed the "Your signed items" section. When I get it scanned I'll post it :)
V.
V.
I had someone call and threaten me once after I called him out on a few of his fake sigs. He was selling a lot of fake stuff, mostly Queen. I believe his ebay ID was mcdode, or something like that. He lives in Long Beach CA.
Ah, Americans - they think they can sue people in Europe.
If anyone actually managed to sue yous you, just let them know that Brian May, Roger Taylor & John Deacon will be called as witnesses...
If anyone actually managed to sue yous you, just let them know that Brian May, Roger Taylor & John Deacon will be called as witnesses...