Advice On Selling Coins In Canada..ebay?

I mostly agree. If I took a picture and someone used it as crucial part of something they were selling (like a coin catalogue) it would be an issue. If a coin catalogue was made mostly from pirated pictures that would be a particular issue.

But this case is pretty benign. The seller owns the coin. He could replicate the photo. The fact he used an old picture should really be taken as a compliment to the photographer. The photographer has suffered no financial harm and the seller has not really made extra money from the photo. I would say that the photographer should not expect any royalty for its use regardless of what the laws say. That being said, it would have been better form to ask permission.

And just so no one takes this as a post from someone who has never published, I have written maybe 2000 published items in my previous professional life....plus I edited another 5000 (yup that's like 15 a day for 15 years). Then (and now) most of us were figuring out how to get our stuff republished!

People in the coin collecting hobby need to take themselves a lot less seriously!

I am happy to share my knowledge and ideas with anyone. If they profit or succeed as a result I am happy for their success.

Let's look at the example of....I would say...the world's most jealous defender of copyright. Disney. Is the world better off because Disney jealously defends their images and copyrights? No. Does anyone think the better of them for it? No. People fear the repercussions of crossing paths with them. But that does not make people like them, respect them of think of them as thought leaders. They are thugs.

I do not fear that I will run out of relevant ideas to share.

It was not my intention to start an ownership debate.I'm new to selling coins or anything else online and I was wondering whether it's common practice, acceptable, frowned upon. I did say it wasn't a big deal as I don't own the coin anymore. What if I had posed my question from the other perspective? I am selling a coin that I recently bought off of ebay, is it frowned upon to use the photographs from the listing that I bought the coin from? Even from that perspective the responses would have been the same. And all of the replies have been helpful. No doubt there is alot of knowledge here at CCF. Thank you. I know now that legally it's not right but it isn't enforced. That it is accepted by some sellers and unacceptable to others. I appreciate the different opinions.

When I buy a coin on ebay and I receive the package from the seller and the postage stamp is not cancelled, I will reuse the stamp.

But maybe I should send the stamp back to him, since it's his stamp in the first place or perhaps I should keep the stamp but ask his permission for the privelege of using his stamp.

What should I do?

Actually once a stamp is used , cancelled or not , it becomes the property of the recipient, as it is affixed to a package or personal correspondence. It is for a one timed paid amount and cannot be reused.
It is against Canadian Federal Law to "wash" or to reuse postage stamps . The RCMP busted a Montreal group a few years back for doing this.
US Law is also very specific on this topic as well . Described in Title 18 US Code. Sec. 471 Sec. 1720.
As to someone using a photo that was first in one of my listings , if they asked , absolutely I would be delighted to let them use it .
If they do not ask and then reuse it , umm not kosher at all!

I fear we have strayed quite far from the OP's original question however, as I understand the law, if you take a photograph of an object, then you hold the copyright for that image. You can, if you choose, enforce that copyright by asking some one using the image without permission to stop their use of the image or grant them an explicit right to use. Essentially, this is what the RCM has done if you read the sticky at the top of the NCLT page, they are enforcing their rights to the images of their coins that they produce. Of course, you own the copyright for the images that you produce.

As a copyright holder, you can hold an image for your exclusive use, or you can allow others to use the image with permission for a royalty or for free, or you can choose not to enforce your copyright. If you choose not to enforce your copyright on a given image, then you can lose the right to enforce it in the future.

The effort & investment required to make the photograph doesn't matter; whether you take a 5-second snap with a camera phone in daylight or the image is the product of thousands of dollars of gear with meticulous lighting, setup and re-shoots... the copyright is the same.

It is also why you will often see a "perpetual right to use" release as part of the entry to photo contests and the terms & conditions on Facebook etc. You will still own the copyright but you grant the photo contest or Facebook the right to use the photo... usually for whatever purpose they want and without further royalty or compensation.

@smallcentguy

I dispute your characterization of Disney. They have invested millions of dollars in the images and movies that they produce and they have the right to profit from that investment, much as other companies have the right to profit from their products.

If you want to talk about copyright thugs, you need look no further than the IOC who have the most predatory copyright and trademark legal team on the planet.