Rules about intellectual property – overview | In this article |  | |
We're committed to providing a safer place to buy and list items, as well as assisting third parties in protecting their intellectual property rights. When someone uses other people’s intellectual property—such as copyrighted material and trademarks—in an unlawful way, it's considered infringement, which is against the law and eBay policies.
If you’d like to learn more about the laws and regulations protecting intellectual property, see the U.S. Copyright Office website and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website. All buyers and sellers on eBay need to make sure they're following all applicable laws and regulations.
Before listing items on eBay, be sure to read and follow our rules below and our guidelines on creating legally compliant listings.
Rules that affect what you can sell on eBay
Restricted |
The following items are restricted or prohibited because they may infringe on intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties. Click each link for more information.
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Not allowed |
The following items aren't allowed on eBay. Click each link for details on our policies.
Items that may enable unauthorized copies, including:
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Rules that affect how you can list items for sale
Not allowed |
In a listing, eBay members:
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eBay VeRO Program: Reporting listing violations
We created the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program so intellectual property owners could report listings that infringe their intellectual property rights. It is in eBay’s interest to ensure that infringing items are removed from the site, as they erode the trust of our buyers and good sellers.
Here are some of our basic guidelines on what to do:
If you're the Verified Rights Owner
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Only intellectual property rights owners can report eBay listings that infringe their copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights. If you are a rights owner, you can file a report from the VeRO: Reporting an Infringement page. |
If you're not the rights owner |
Even if you're not the rights owner, you can still help by getting in touch with the owner and encouraging them to contact us.
Some rights owners who participate in the VeRO program have created an About Me page so you can find out more about their products and legal positions. Though not all VeRO participants have an About me page, those that do can be found at our VeRO participant About Me pages. |
If your listing was removed |
We encourage you to take our intellectual property tutorial to learn how to avoid having your listings removed because they are alleged to infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties .
If you believe your listing was removed in error, see How eBay protects intellectual property (VeRO). For more information, visit the following web pages:
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Contact us Have a question? We can help.
Get help from other eBay members. Visit the Answer Center to post a question. |
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