We've had several people try to use our book to profit on eBay, in spite of a copyright notice at the beginning of the book and the last page which states that the book may be freely shared but not altered, claimed or sold.

However an eBay seller with the ID of "forbbe" has gone way beyond the usual use of our intellectual property.

The full text of this outrageous claim is:

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+++++++ Note to eBay staff +++++++

The underlying eBook is in the public domain and we own resale copy right of this eBook.

Please note that this listing has been pre-approved by Emmanuelle Rice of the eBay Community Watch Department as compliant with eBay’s Listing Policies (Ref KMM1084112V23169L0KM). Since there is no such category as "everything else, information product" in Australia eBay site, "lots more, other" is deemed the most suitable category.

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A copy of one of his auctions is here:

http://www.auction-genius-course.com/listings/stolenbook.shtml

When I sent him an email asking him to remove his auctions, he responded by demanding that Chris and I prove that the book wasn't in the public domain! The fact is that we don't need to prove anything. The copyright law of the US states that any book published after 1978 is protected for the life of author(s) + 70 years. In other words, any work published after 1978 is NOT in the Public Domain even if it does not have a copyright notice. It will be at least 70 years before this book is public domain - and Chris and I sincerely hope it will be much longer than that!!!

Since this guy's was too lazy to even change his auction listing, and instead used ours intact, he even admits we are the authors. Therefore, he knows perfectly well that he is not entitled to use this book to make money. Amazing, isn't it?