Hello well firstly I'm a student and I seriously got no money at all. I purchased a study guide from a teacher to study for a test to get into graduate school and I had to sign a document saying I am the purchaser and ill not make illegal copies etc so I did. I bought it but now I decided I do not want to be in this field anymore so I just sold my copy and I seen people selling their copy of this study guide on the web too. I tried selling it on eBay but I didn't do it right cause apparently I posted it twice again after I already sold mine and sent the package to the person. The teacher who sold me the study guide saw the 2 posts on eBay and bought both and sent me an email saying he's contacted his lawyer and they will be using my signed form as proof and they will do litigation against me. I'm so scared I just sold my copy and I didn't make multiple its just mine and I don't know wha tto do I just messaged him saying I did it on accident but there's no response, I don't know what to do. Will I be in big trouble? Help.

This was all online and this teacher and his company sell these study guides for students to study they're in a diff state


I don't know what to do and I'm scared I don't even have a lawyer or know anything about all of that stuff.


No I didn't try to take it off cause at first my one I was selling wasn't getting bids so I tried to make them show more now this guy thinks I am selling so many copies. I did only sell mine but that's it.


Since he bought it back so no one else could bid on it I told him I can show him the receipt of who I sold mine to and even if I have to ill send all the money I got from it back but I didn't make copies I just sold mine I'm scared now about this cause I've never been in this situation before.

I guess you need a good attorney.

I don't even understand why I am in trouble. He is suing me because he suspects me of selling multiple copies of his work because I had two extra advertisements on eBay even though I had already sold my copy because I had no idea how to sell on eBay because it was my first time selling on eBay and so I made a mistake. I clarified this to him and he has yet to respond. I don't have the time or energy to make copies of hundreds of pages and sell them to other people, and I am not needy to even do such a thing in the first place. I did not have bids on my original copy I purchased with my own money, so I tried to put up more ads thinking that's how I could get people to notice them. The guy is out of state anyway and I'm really getting paranoid about this situation. In the contract it says not to illegally sell multiple copies and I did not I just sold one of mine and I even offered to show him the receipt and even send the money back if he's that damned worried about it. I tried selling it because I'm not going for that career path anymore and so I wanted to get part of the money I paid for it back so I could give it back to my girlfriend whom I borrowed from. Someone have alternate advice for my situation? I don't know the first thing about lawyers, attorneys, and legal process.

Unless he can prove you sold more than one copy then he has no case. But if you accepted bids on more than one copy, you are in trouble.

The way I understand this - and I'm pretty much guessing - is that you bought a study guide and agreed not to make copies of it for sale. You then sold that original copy but advertised after that, on e-bay.

The person who sold you the original believes, based on the multiple ads, that you sold more than one of the guides - which would mean they had to be copies.

Am I right so far?

If so he will bring those ads to Court IF he sues you and you will have to explain how you made the mistake. E-bay records will undoubtedly be subpoenaed. If your account indicates you sold more than one copy, you will lose.

As far as him being "so damned worried about it" he had you sign the agreement for a reason and based on what you have said (more than one ad to sell) I can see why he is upset. Every photocopy that is sold is taking money out of his pocket AND is a violation of his contract with the original purchaser.

Hello s:

If the second and third adds were MISTAKES, and there was NOTHING to sell, how did the professor BUY them??

excon

You are right in what you are saying, I did sell one copy on eBay and unfortunately had 2 more ads posted. There were bids on it and I didn't even look at it anymore anyway. He bought the two other posts so that no one could buy them and said he will be taking legal action against me for selling more than one copy. I sent him a message explaining the situation and said I only sold one and if he wants I can show him the receipt and give his money back. No I only sold one on there and the other two unfortunate posts did not finish and I did not sell anything to anyone else cause I only have the one I bought and I sold it to a person who bought it the first time. I am not making any dang money off this stupid study guide nor do I need to. I just made a mistake on eBay cause I've never sold before and now I'm going to have my life ruined and be sued for it. I don't even know how to make copies of hundreds of pages I just sold the one I had bought originally.

This was where It became unclear to me. Its not clear whether the author just bid on the additional ads or won the bid and made payment and received or was promised a copy.

If the OP had simply responded to the bid by saying he's sorry he only had one copy and that's been sold, he might have avoided this.

He bidded highest on it so that no one could buy them thinking I had more copies of his product to sell to people. He first sent me a message saying to end the advertisement .Then I guess he saw the second one and he said I am using your signed document to start litigation against you and have already spoken to my attorney. As soon as I could I looked on the website to try to figure out how to end the ads and there were people bidding on them again but since he bidded more on it he won it and so I figured out how to end the advertisement and I did on both of them and then I let him know about what has happened but he has yet to respond to me about it.

The author bidded on both of them the highest to stop anyone else from purchasing it (thinking I purposely put the ads to begin with), and then messaged me saying to take them down and that I'd be having to go to court. No he did not send me cash for it he just bidded on them. I didn't even pay attention to the other ones till I got a message from eBay and himself saying it's a violation of copyright law and I don't know how I am supposed to prove to people I just sold my original to an individual and its already been sent and there's even a tracking number for it. I don't have anymore.

Hello again, smiles:

Nahhh... Getting sued is a right of passage... So, if you didn't do what he says you did, then you defend yourself in court. If he can't PROVE you sold more than his original copy, then you're going to WIN.

excon

PS> What?? You don't know how to use a copy machine?? If so, I don't think you'll do well in grad school.

Thanks well that made me feel a little bit more comfortable cause I couldn';t sleep all night and I've been paranoid about this ever since .I even just emailed him again about it I've sent him like 7 emails sinc ehe first messaged me yesterday but I still haven't gotten a response. I only did sell one copy and I have no reason to make money of fof copyright material and if my parents find out about this they're going to freak out even more than me. Well I don't know how to use one really and there's like a billion pages on that study guide I wouldn't do such a thing. I'm changing my career path I've thought long and hard about it. I'm just scared of going to court in general I feel like I've done something very bad.

Hello again, smiles:

If you didn't DO anything bad, and I believe you, then don't FEEL bad. In the world of business and adulthood, you're not going to please everybody. You can't let OTHER people be in charge of your feelings, or you'll NEVER make it.

Believe me, going to court ain't no biggie... Look... Don't be afraid of it. Go visit a public trial. See for yourself.. That's right. Just walk in and sit down. Ain't nobody going to say anything.

excon

Because I understand how he can get mad by someone trying to make money off the work he has put into selling his study guides but I hope when he responds he understands my mistake and lets it go because going to court is traumatizing for me and I don't even know what would happen. But I didn't do anything wrong so hopefully he just lets this go. I didn't even know we could sit in public trials and watch, that's how little I know about court itself. I will keep you posted on what the response is when I get one as to decide what to do about this.

He still isn't responding should I email again?

No, He he was probably just trying to scare you. The cost of a copyright suit would probably be too high for the potential of a return. Forget about it unless you hear from him again and remove the E-Bay ads.

Yes he would have to hire an attorney to sue you and would have to pay 5 to 10 thousand just to start for an attorney.
So unless you are rich and have money, he is wasting his time

Yes I am not going to even message anymore or worry about this I feel I'm just worrying over nothing because I never did such a thing to begin with. All the eBay ads had been removed once I found out how to take them off.

I am not rich at all but wouldn't ever do that, the reason why I sold my copy was cause on a website called sdn there are so many people doing it too but I already knew that multiple copies wasn't allowed and I didn't do that it was just hard maneuvering on the website and figuring out how to use eBay for the first time.