Phish made ebay pull my auction

General art-related discussion.
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Rev.Mike
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Wed Jun 08, 2005 2:14 pm

I was selling on ebay my copy of the Arminski '94 Michigan print, and Dionysus contacted ebay and made them pull the auction, along with the additional condition that my account will be deactivated if I do this again. Now I understand that legally Dionysus probably has the right to do this, but it seems very selective as I did not produce the print myself, I was a private owner, this print has sold on ebay previously, and hundreds of unofficial Phish itmes sell on ebay everyday. I didn't infringe on their copyright, arminski did, which is why they sued him back in '95. I guess my main questions are, why the slectiveness, how did my auction come to their attention, and how, as a private owner of a previously produced work, am I infringing on their copyright? Does this mean none of us can resell any of the unofficial prints or shirts we have?
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marshhouse
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Wed Jun 08, 2005 3:35 pm

A disgruntled hippie probably narced on you.

:lol:

Seriously, though it's hard to tell. As I understand the MA/Phish,DMB suit is still being tossed around. There may be some heavier policing going on because of that. Also, if I'm correct it was probably pulled because it was a MA print.

You could list it here and probably won't be hassled. Maybe try to sell it over on phishposters.com

Good luck to you on the sale. Sorry about your hassle.
Bacon is love.
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Rev.Mike
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Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:03 am

Just an update, there is currently an Arminski Phish '95 on ebay that only has 3 days left, they pulled my '94 within a day. Also one of the Arminski legal defense prints sold recently, and one is currently up (they are both advertised as anti-Phish). I'm not gonna report these guys, but if I don't hear an answer from Phish (which I don't expect to), I'm certainly going to point this out to ebay once those auctions finish.
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Yamar
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Sat Jun 11, 2005 8:52 am

Well, the Mouse/Arminski auctions don't get pulled that I've ever seen. They don't have the word "Phish" anywhere on them so the "Phish Police" can't do a whole lot about it. As for the '95... who knows? They've always been hit or miss with what they pull and what they don't.
I'd tend to agree with Chip (marshy) -- someone was probably disgruntled for some reason and reported your auction, hence it got pulled. If no one reports 'em, sometimes they don't get stopped. No real rhyme or reason that I've ever seen to it. I managed to get auctions thru for both of my '95s in the past (with only one selling thru Ebay) and then getting the auction pulled 2 days after it closed asking me not to complete the transaction (yeah, right!). But still...
Tra la la la la...
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Rev.Mike
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Sat Jun 11, 2005 10:42 am

All I can say is at least they refunded my listing fees, which is the first time I've had that done for an auction that was pulled, and I still to this day don't know why my other auctions were pulled, for used cd's and such.
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jojobadass
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Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:16 pm

Rev.Mike wrote: Now I understand that legally Dionysus probably has the right to do this, but it seems very selective as I did not produce the print myself, I was a private owner, this print has sold on ebay previously, and hundreds of unofficial Phish itmes sell on ebay everyday. I didn't infringe on their copyright, arminski did, which is why they sued him back in '95. I guess my main questions are, why the slectiveness, how did my auction come to their attention, and how, as a private owner of a previously produced work, am I infringing on their copyright? Does this mean none of us can resell any of the unofficial prints or shirts we have?
I'm pretty sure Dionysus is defunct w/ the breakup of Phish. So, I'm not sure why Dionysus is doing anything anymore.....I think at this point it is just a personal vendeta against arminski. Rumor has it that it's just one of their pricks doing it out of spite. Too bad, they are some of Phish's coolest posters out there.

it's the same crap w/ the fillmore people, they're basically making their own product uncollectable. Doesn't make any sense to me why you squeeze the people who make your product valuable....I mean the value of a poster isn't what Wolfgang sets the price at, it's what collectors are willing to pay. Call me stupid, but I don't get what they're upto either.
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hitmewithposters
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Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:44 pm

well, kevin shapiro has a general disdain for the whole idea of phish posters being worth money on the aftermarket (probably becuase he believes he deserves a cut or something twisted like that).

I was selling a few distante gorge posters one time and recevied a cease and desist order from Kevin and he was convinced I was the artist, I simply had a couple of extras to dish out. The print in question did not even use the word phish or the bands likeness' or their little fishy symbol, but the 900-lb gorilla that he can be was still way to motivated to let it slide. He was talking all sorts of legal action and even demanded on the phone that I hand over not only every copy of this print I have, but any other print I have that is infringing. Yeah...right, I'll get right on that Kevin!

I got into several discussions with him about it all and casually mentioned I had several phish posters some worth up to a couple grand and he freaked out saying that is the exact problem, there is no way that people should be allowed to sell phish posters for that much money. I could not believe what I was hearing, he literally had animosity towards the aftermarket of their own products.

In the end, it simply blew away and I laugh about it now.

The key to selling arminskis is have an auction that does not use the word phish (risky since it tends to have less peole notice it) and have a buy it now so it can get scooped up right away, or post the sale on friendly poster sites in trading/selling sections.

The 94 print is hands down my favorite phish print why on earth they would not want to be associated wiht such a fantastic piece of art is beyond me...and sadly I recently sold it and I'm sure it found a good home :wink:

Funny thing about Mouse's involvement int he legal defense fund print with arminski is that Mouse's peole told me that he'd never ever in this life do work for that group, he's a strong advocate of artists rights and fair use, but the thing that got him was after the production of his pH balance piece he actually had phish fans threaten him for his stance, simply unreal!

Jeremy
turnJBup
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Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:24 pm

Rev.Mike wrote:I was selling on ebay my copy of the Arminski '94 Michigan print, and Dionysus contacted ebay and made them pull the auction, along with the additional condition that my account will be deactivated if I do this again. Now I understand that legally Dionysus probably has the right to do this, but it seems very selective as I did not produce the print myself, I was a private owner, this print has sold on ebay previously, and hundreds of unofficial Phish itmes sell on ebay everyday. I didn't infringe on their copyright, arminski did, which is why they sued him back in '95. I guess my main questions are, why the slectiveness, how did my auction come to their attention, and how, as a private owner of a previously produced work, am I infringing on their copyright? Does this mean none of us can resell any of the unofficial prints or shirts we have?
Dionysis, trying to salvage something?
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jojobadass
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Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:50 pm

turnJBup wrote:
Rev.Mike wrote:I was selling on ebay my copy of the Arminski '94 Michigan print, and Dionysus contacted ebay and made them pull the auction, along with the additional condition that my account will be deactivated if I do this again. Now I understand that legally Dionysus probably has the right to do this, but it seems very selective as I did not produce the print myself, I was a private owner, this print has sold on ebay previously, and hundreds of unofficial Phish itmes sell on ebay everyday. I didn't infringe on their copyright, arminski did, which is why they sued him back in '95. I guess my main questions are, why the slectiveness, how did my auction come to their attention, and how, as a private owner of a previously produced work, am I infringing on their copyright? Does this mean none of us can resell any of the unofficial prints or shirts we have?
Dionysis, trying to salvage something?
Dude, they're ramping up for their big comeback!!
Flimby

Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:30 pm

I like Phish and Arminski, but they sure seem to be gunning for him and his work. :?
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jojobadass
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Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:37 pm

Flimby wrote:I like Phish and Arminski, but they sure seem to be gunning for him and his work. :?
so, is the emek phish in the same boat or is it cool on ebay?
Flimby

Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:42 pm

jojobadass wrote:
Flimby wrote:I like Phish and Arminski, but they sure seem to be gunning for him and his work. :?
so, is the emek phish in the same boat or is it cool on ebay?
I have heard of Shapiro complaining about other prints, but it seems like the arminski's bring more heat than any other print
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