EBayer reselling free GameFAQs guides [update 1]
by Kyle Orland 
{ Dec 18th 2006 at 11:25AM }
Via the SomethingAwful forums comes the story of a GameFAQs guide writer who found digital copies of his Kingdom Hearts guides being resold on by a third party eBay seller without permission. The seller, who also sells guides for dozens of other games, claims to hold the copyright for the guides, which are apparently exact duplicates of the GameFAQs versions, only with the true author's information removed.The seller has reportedly brushed off requests by the author to stop selling the guide, leading many SA forum-goers to recommend legal action. We couldn't agree more -- this guy deserves to pay for profiting off of the work of others -- but we can't help but be impressed by his ability to fool gullible buyers into spending almost $10 for the type of digital guide that is freely available online. Caveat emptor!
[Update: Fixed typo.]
[Thanks Sanchez]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jonathan Tran @ Dec 18th 2006 11:38AM
It's pretty obvious that the SA goons are the Internet police, who protect us all from harm, and escrow s-s-s-s-s-scams.
Saint Jouten @ Dec 18th 2006 11:45AM
We couldn't agree more -- this guy deserves to pay for profiting of the work of others --
Shouldn't it be, "...to pay for profiting OFF of the work of others --"?
Eggroll @ Dec 18th 2006 11:46AM
Now, that he's caught, he should just stop. Asshole.
Brymo @ Dec 18th 2006 11:56AM
This makes my blood boil. Someone takes the time to create a wonderful guide, and then gets ripped off. Instead of putting it up free, he could have made money, but he did not.
He does have a case because it is his work, and copyright is his. The only downfall is that he did not (and who would?) register it with GOV.
Now there is enough proof that this ebayer is still selling them (as private), he knows he is breaking the law.
There is a 4 part test to see who would win in a situation like this.
1) Is it copyrighted
2) Purpose? (edu?)
3) How much is used?
4) Is there monetary loss of the copyright holder.
The ebayer is violating every bit of the test.
DiahrreaMan @ Dec 18th 2006 11:58AM
Wow. People actually do this kind of thing with strategy guides? This guy should just stop now, things can only get worse for him. Who goes to ebay for strategy guides anyways???
Kendrick @ Dec 18th 2006 11:58AM
Certainly what this seller is doing qualifies as theft and profiteering. But the thing to remember is that eBay provides the mechanisms that protect that seller from complaints and legal action. Moreover, eBay's policies insulate them from any liability or responsibility for sales on their website that are suspect or illegal.
I'll say it here again. Until eBay steps up and takes responsibility for curtailing wrongdoing on their website, I won't buy anything there ever again. I'll speak out against the poor service they offer and on behalf of all the people who have been ripped off using eBay. Please don't use eBay or any of their subsidiary products, like Skype or Paypal.
droptop GP @ Dec 18th 2006 12:05PM
This has been going on for years.
People sell PRIMA guide .pdf files all the time.
Field Anony-mouse @ Dec 18th 2006 12:10PM
"Certainly what this seller is doing qualifies as theft and profiteering. But the thing to remember is that eBay provides the mechanisms that protect that seller from complaints and legal action."
Doesn't that make them an acomplice? I mean, I'd have to ask my friend who's a criminal justice major, but if you ask me providing legal protection like that makes them guilty of the same basic crime.
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Dec 18th 2006 12:11PM
Busy little criminal this one. He's selling tens of these every day and has been doing so for quite some time now.
He's building up quite a nice Christmas war chest with his illegal activities. It's probably all going up his nose or in his veins.
refinedsugar @ Dec 18th 2006 12:15PM
Sad ... stupid ... but nothing new.
OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2006 12:26PM
The whole eBay component shouldn't surprise anyone. eBay is a den of thieves and con artists, protected at every turn by eBay.
I'm not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure that these circumstances could be used to mount a successful "justifiable torture-rape-homicide" case.
Darrell @ Dec 18th 2006 12:36PM
Yeah, we could all go on about how he's scum for selling freely available information (and he is!), but really, if people weren't so damned stupid there wouldn't be a market there for him to exploit in the first place.
And that, my friends, is rather sad.
Gonzo @ Dec 18th 2006 2:05PM
What a douchebag.
I'm surprised this jerkoff is some ebay bum, an attitude like that can get you to the top in the corporate world. But someone like that doesn't deserve health coverage when some disgruntled nut knocks down his door. He probably tries to make people think they're buying the game; you ever get a load of those crackheads?
Patrick @ Dec 18th 2006 1:25PM
The bottom of the ad also states: "Legal Notice: I am the copyright owner of this item"
So... That's a flat out lie, right?
Patrick M. @ Dec 18th 2006 1:17PM
this really pisses me off especially as a contributor to GameFAQs. Myself and the other contributors at GameFAQs work are asses of in our free time to write up these guides which literally take months to complete. I can't believe this jackass thinks he can just come along and steal our work, slap his name on it and sell it for his own benefit. I hope they sue his ass.
Scott @ Dec 18th 2006 1:28PM
A short but firm cease and desist letter should be enough to stop him. You'll have to do it by email, likely, but it would probably be enough to scare him into stopping. If the real owner knows an attorney, it shouldn't be too difficult to have this done for free.
Firegirl @ Dec 18th 2006 1:53PM
Man, there are some people that will do anything to make a quick buck. How sad!
ackmondual @ Dec 18th 2006 1:58PM
Gamefaq's forums already posted this on their site years ago, so they're well aware of this scam. Despite how behind Joystiq can be on some news, it's always nice to reiterate for the rest who dont' keenly keep up with these issues.
It's a shame he made his auction/fb private. Else, I'm sure potential buyers would've been disuaded by negs from disgruntled buyers saying this was already available for free online. And yes, some Ebay buyers are not that informed as they should be. They ask stuff like "what person would only sell manuals/boxes but not the games" or don't comparison shop.
Donald @ Dec 18th 2006 2:40PM
"This has been going on for years.
People sell PRIMA guide .pdf files all the time."
Two key differences:
1) Prima guides are often incomplete and "create a vacuum" when compared to the stuff on GameFAQs. The only advantage is the pictures/maps which really can't be replicated in ASCII.
2) Prima is a for-profit company and has a lawyer on call to deal with these things through Ebay or the seller. As a semi-retired GameFAQs writer, I can tell you that I can't afford a lawyer to bust this guy's ass if he has my guide up there, and I didn't make any money off of it either. The fact that he does makes me want to roll him for every cent he's making and at least distribute it back to the original writers of these guides.
Pyrocy @ Dec 18th 2006 2:43PM
The seller wouldn't happen to have the last name "Bauman", now would he?
;)
JustinL @ Dec 18th 2006 3:15PM
Willful infringement of a copyright - up to $150,000 in damages per work infringed. Sue his ass.
zombiekiller13 @ Dec 19th 2006 7:59AM
this is the type of person that makes it look bad for the rest of us that sell stuff on eBay. after being ripped off at Gamestop and EB Games, I decided to sell my old games on eBay to get a little more than the buck or two the above mentioned stores (well, 'store' now). my games are always in pristine condition, have the original cases and instructions, and most of the time, the buyer pays about what they'd pay at the store. the only exceptions have been the rare games.
if you buy from me, you aren't going to get a copied game, a disc that looks like it was run through a shredder, or instruction books that look like they've been peed on.
but, I digress.
people that pull crap like this (this guy has got to have a large, brass pair to sell free guides), or the people that rip others off and never send the item purchased, or the people that sell copied games...it ticks me off. it keeps potential buyers away from what I want to sell...even though, for now, I've sold all the games I wanted to sell.
Ryoga Vee @ Dec 18th 2006 5:03PM
You guys have never heard of GRACENOTE have you?
tracked @ Dec 18th 2006 6:21PM
What the seller is doing is pretty much evil. But you have to agree though. It's a nice way of making money. His points are 6000 i don't know what that means probably means that he sold a lot. Which means that he is raking $$$ from this. That is so cool. And all he did was remove the contact details.
momy331 @ Jan 1st 2007 11:42PM
I bought a eguide from this ebay seller "the_ultimate_guides" and his guide is from GameFAQs too. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZthe_ultimate_guidesQQhtZ-1
Looks like "bootleggersgamecove" and "best.game.guides" are also his other accounts. Maybe we need to email this guy too.