Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 10:03:21
 From: xxxx
 Subject: Copyright Issue and Question
 To: "P.R. Koenig"

 On Friday we received a notice that one of our items infringed on the
 cOTO's copyrights and the auction was summarily closed. The item was a
 6 disc CD set from the UK which featured the Wax Cylinder recordings
 (Dressed 2 Kill records).
 The CDs contains:
 Disc 1: 1. Every Man and Every Woman Is A Star 2. Love
 is the Law - Love Under Will 3. Sigil of the Master
 Therion 4 666 - 418 -93 5. The Scourge, The Dagger and
 the Chain 6. Aning Ning Ning 7. Osiris Risen
 Disc 2: 1. The Call of the First Aethyr (Enochian) 2.
 The Call of the First Aethyr (Englilsh) 3. The Call of
 the Second (Enochian) 4. The Call of the Second Aethyr
 (English) 5. La Gitana 6. The Pentagram 7. One
 Sovereign for the Woman 8. The Poet 9. At Sea 10. The
 Fingernails 11. The Titanic 12. Hymn to the American
 People 13. Excerpts from the Gnostic Mass 14. Vive La
 French Republic
 Disc 3: 1. Words of Aeon 2. Words of the Aeon (part
 two) 3. Phallus erectus 4. Phallus Risen 5.
 Penetration and Pain 6. Excerpt from the Pentagram
 Hymn 7. Six of Cups
 Disc 4: 1. Incubus 2. Succubus 3. Pornographic Hymn
 (1) 4. Pornographic Hymn (2) 5. Sodomy 6. Beastiality
 7. Gnostic Mass and Obscene 8. Obscene 9. Dagger and
 Penis 10. The Dagger, Penis and Vagina
 Disc 5: 1. Tarot 2. Hanged Man 3. Emperor 4. Emperess
 5. Death
 Disc 6: 1. Reporting the Beast 2. Reporting the Sabbat
 3. Unholy Communion 4. One Sovereign for the Beast 5.
 The Sabbat
 Some tracks are an ambient sort of techno remix sampling Crowley and
 others and the 'Caliphate' claimed in one email that these too violated
 their rights, since they are "passed off" as being Crowley as well as
 infringing rights to poetry by sampling/reading.
 Following our request for supporting documentation, Adrian Leverkuhn,
 OTO Assistant Secretary, faxed and emailed documents to us.
 


 VeRO stands for eBay's Verified Rights Owner program.

---BEGIN VeRO EMAIL---

 Dear xxxx,
 We regret to inform you that your listing:
 155xxxxxx Satanic Verses Box 6-CD set Aleister Crowley
 has been ended at the request of Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a member
 of eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program, because they filed a
 sworn statement that it offers a product or contains material which
 violates their copyright, trademark or other rights. In the interest of
 protecting all eBay users, we end such listings to avoid any
 association with potentially infringing or unlawful items.
 We understand that sometimes mistakes can be made. If you feel your
 listing was ended in error, please read the VeRO Program Member’s About
 Me Page. To help you find their About Me page, we have compiled a list
 of About Me pages located at:
 http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html
 If you are unable to find the appropriate About Me page, or if their
 About Me page does not answer your questions, please contact the VeRO
 Program Member directly by emailing them at
 oto_legal_department@mac.com.
 Of course, eBay is available to answer questions, but since only the
 rights owner understands their products and policies, we encourage you
 to contact them first. If we agree a mistake has been made or the VeRO
 Program Member notifies us, we will allow you to relist the item.
 We also understand that even if your item is infringing, you may have
 been unaware of that fact, and may have listed the item with the best
 of intentions. Unfortunately, even if this is so, you still could face
 potential liability, so ending the listing is still necessary.
 Please review our Prohibited, Questionable & Infringing Items at:
 http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-items.html
 and Why Was My Auction Ended Early By eBay? at:
 http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/png-endauction.html
 to learn more. All Bidders have been notified and any associated fees
 have been credited to your account.
 **Keep in mind that listing of prohibited, questionable or infringing
 items, or the re-listing of ended items without the approval of eBay,
 can result in your suspension from eBay.
 Thank you for your cooperation.
 Regards,
 Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
 eBay Inc

---END VeRO EMAIL---

 Below is their auto response to our query regarding above notification.
 Once a claim has been filed the only way they will reverse the removal
 is to received notification from the VeRO member. Effectively this
 means that OTO has veto power over all auctions on eBay. They simply
 file a complaint and the seller has absolutely no recourse. From
 discussions with other sellers, this is a tactic used by music
 companies to prevent (legitimate) resale of CD's etc. through eBay.

---BEGIN 2ND eBay EMAIL---

 As you know, eBay has not inspected the item you have listed. In
 addition, eBay is not an expert in the rights of any third parties. As
 a result, we are not in a position to make a judgment as to whether the
 item you have listed is legal or authorized.
 When we receive a proper notice from a Verified Rights Owner or their
 agent stating that the item you have listed is infringing, we are
 required by law to remove the listing. We removed your listing because
 we received such a notice from the rights owner. (Please refer to the
 Item Ended Notice we sent you for the exact name of the rights owner
 that asked us to remove your listing).
---END 2ND EMAIL---
 
 'Caliphate to xxxx:
 Yes, I'll send a fax. I attach the referenced documents (Particulars of
 Claim and Schedule). A few of the poems recited are in the Schedule.
 The recordings themselves were not part of the UK suit deciding
 ownership but they do fall under the terms of the judgment generally,
 which decided the basic question of ownership of Crowley's intellectual
 properties.
 Dressed to Kill is bankrupt now, and the company taking over the label
 has dropped the title. We hadn't realized that Baker and Taylor had
 picked it up. We are dealing with BMG through our NY attorney.
 The Great Beast Speaks is the authorized edition, though it is no
 longer under license old copies turn up.
 We are in the process of remastering these recordings, denoised etc.,
 and will release with additional material in the next 6 months or so.
 All best Adrian