Someone is using my product on his GIG

[zacid1478]

Hi there!

I hope everyone is well

Today a person contacted me for a project as we are discussing about the project I checked the buyer profile to see his reviews .The person who contacted me is also a seller so I checked his seller reviews and after seeing that I was surprised that he is providing the same service that I do and in his reviews there are 4 reviews in which a portfolio image or screen recording is included when I saw the portfolio images I was shocked that the products are made by me (but for some other buyers).

So long story short he was reselling the products (that I made) to other people in a huge budget.

And the fun part is that he is using different different products that i made for (Different buyers)

I think it is a group of people who buys products from sellers at low budget and sells the products to the real owners and the real owners are giving them a huge budget.

I immediately blocked the (buyer or seller)

its not the first time that I encountered these type of people and they are from a specific country

so my main concern is that how can I avoid these type of (buyer or seller)? and how can I save my product to be only used in my GIG?

THANKS !

[smashradio]

Just now, zacid1478 said:

yes sir i say no to them politely and they keep repeating that (they have no other person to do this job) and if i block them some other person from the same country contacts me with the same requirements of the project

You can block and ignore them. You don't have to work with them. But increasing your price will most likely send them on their way before they even try to contact you. 

[newsmike]

48 minutes ago, zacid1478 said:

I think it is a group of people who buys products from sellers at low budget and sells the products to the real owners and the real owners are giving them a huge budget.

This can be tricky. Technically once you sell something, all rights pass to them, unless you specifically specify otherwise. What you are describing is the entire sales cycle. T-shirt made in China for 25 cents, sold to distributor in US for $2.00, sold to retail chain for $4.00, sold to consumer for $15.00. Imagine Chinese factory worker suggesting that it is unfair because someone resold it at a profit?

Again, unless you specifically state that all copyright and ownership rights are not transferred upon sale, and transfer is prohibited, this is not a violation. And unfortunately, even if it were, there is little you can do if someone is intent on cheating you. Fiverr has no protection, and you are dealing with International IP theft, which is impossible to control. You should see the nifty Rolex I got in Times Square for just $50.   

Just type "Disney" into Fiverr's search bar and here's over 1,000 scammers ripping Disney off as we speak. How Fiverr approves these is beyond me.

https://www.fiverr.com/search/gigs?query=disney&source=top-bar&ref_ctx_id=4699875bb2766945d4d3b8be86690eb2&search_in=everywhere&search-autocomplete-original-term=disney

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by newsmike

[zacid1478]

4 minutes ago, newsmike said:

This can be tricky. Technically once you sell something, all rights pass to them, unless you specifically specify otherwise. What you are describing is the entire sales cycle. T-shirt made in China for 25 cents, sold to distributor in US for $2.00, sold to retail chain for $4.00, sold to consumer for $15.00. Imagine Chinese factory worker suggesting that it is unfair because someone resold it at a profit?

Again, unless you specifically state that all copyright and ownership rights are not transferred upon sale, and transfer is prohibited, this is how every business works.  

thanks for your response sir and i really appreciate that i acted on your advice ,edited my GIG and made an option for commercial or non-commercial use. And can i make a watermark on my product images before sending them to buyers

Thanks

[newsmike]

Just now, zacid1478 said:

thanks for your response sir and i really appreciate that i acted on your advice ,edited my GIG and made an option for commercial or non-commercial use. And can i make a watermark on my product images before sending them to buyers

Thanks

I hope it helps, but the good news is that there are still plenty of buyers who are honest, despite the flood from that "certain country" you mentioned. 

[zacid1478]

2 minutes ago, newsmike said:

I hope it helps, but the good news is that there are still plenty of buyers who are honest, despite the flood from that "certain country" you mentioned. 

yes sir i am making all of my products from scratch and about 70% of my buyers are from that country if i refuse to do their work politely they force me to do their work in less cost

[smashradio]

I'm afraid there's little you can do about this if someone paid you for it, like @newsmike so eloquently pointed out. 

The best way to avoid this from happning in the first place, is to increase you rates. Most Fiverr sellers who use the work of other sellers, love cheap services, because that increases their profit. I'm in voice-over and I frequently get contacted by video animators on Fiverr for VOs. The only problem is that their budget is five dollars – so obviously, I'm not going to work with them – but it says something about the way these people work. 

I've resold services before (some VO clients want me to handle stuff like hiring an animator and so on) and in translation, I work with native translators of different countries on localization projects. In all cases, I'm 100% transparent with the seller and client about this. 

Claiming someone else's work as your own is unethical, and so is deceiving a buyer into thinking you're making something you're not. 

[newsmike]

2 minutes ago, zacid1478 said:

they force me to do their work in less cost

How can they force you? You say no. Period.

[zacid1478]

Just now, newsmike said:

How can they force you? You say no. Period.

yes sir i say no to them politely and they keep repeating that (they have no other person to do this job) and if i block them some other person from the same country contacts me with the same requirements of the project

[smashradio]

By the way: this might be interesting: https://www.fiverr.com/community/standards/intellectual-property

You're not allowed to just buy something from another seller, not change it, and re-sell it in certain cases: 

"Sellers are welcome to incorporate purchases which they have all required rights to, in their deliveries. For example designs as backgrounds for music videos, images for websites, images for presentations, etc. With that said, by no means can purchases be delivered “as is” with no significant added value or transformative use, under the misconception that it is the seller's original work and in order to gain profit from price differences. "

So if I buy your service, and re-sell it for a similar purchase price, being absolutely transparent about the fact that I didn't make it, for instance, when I hire a Spanish translator to work with me on a multilingual project, is fair. But buying your service and re-selling it "as is" with the intent of making a profit from the price difference without doing any actual work, is not fair. 

[newsmike]

3 minutes ago, zacid1478 said:

yes sir i say no to them politely and they keep repeating that (they have no other person to do this job) and if i block them some other person from the same country contacts me with the same requirements of the project

And you say no, over and over, and over and over. Sometimes "piss off" works quite well also.

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by newsmike

[svrockwell1]

On 9/8/2022 at 5:57 PM, newsmike said:

Technically once you sell something, all rights pass to them, unless you specifically specify otherwise.

Do they for all verticals, or are voice-over services simply framed in more detail within the ToS, @newsmike, @smashradio?

On 9/8/2022 at 5:57 PM, newsmike said:

unless you specifically state that all copyright and ownership rights are not transferred upon sale, and transfer is prohibited, this is not a violation.

According to Fiverr's ToS, "When purchasing a Voice Over Gig, the Seller grants you a perpetual, exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide license to use the purchased Voice Over (except for commercials, radio, television and internet commercial spots)."

Is there a practicing attorney present who can clarify the legal interpretation of non-transferable in the above context? 

[mariashtelle1]

3 minutes ago, svrockwell1 said:

Is there a practicing attorney present who can clarify the legal interpretation of non-transferable in the above context? 

We are on fiverr so I’m sure there is an attorney offering services on fiverr that you can buy 😉 

 

jokes aside, I’m pretty sure that it means that they can’t pass the rights to another person or third party to use the voice over.