As a brief update to the various scandals involving allegedly fraudulent vintage movie posters circulating in the marketplace, two stories published online today by the New York Times report that Kerry T. Haggard has been arrested on mail fraud charges. [Read more…]
Round-Up: More Media Coverage on Fraudulent Vintage Horror Movie Poster Scandal & Lawsuits
In the past few weeks, the scandals involving allegedly fraudulent vintage movie posters circulating in the marketplace has been covered by various online and print media outlets, including The Gainesville Times, The Athens Banner-Herald, and Rue Morgue Magazine. [Read more…]
New eBay Legal Development in the UK – Seller to be Fined up to £50,000 for Shill Bidding
The latest in a series of interesting legal developments related to eBay in the past few years, breaking news today is the case of an eBay seller in the UK who faces up to £50,000 in fines for shill bidding his own auctions. The Daily Mail reports this is the first case in which someone is being fined for such activities. [Read more…]
AFP Report: Court Finds eBay “Guilty of Negligence” In Power Seller Fraud Case, Buyer Awarded $22,000
Per a report from the AFP, an Austrian court has found eBay to be guilty of negligence in a case about a buyer who used the auction site to purchase gold from an eBay “Power Seller” dealer, which he never received. [Read more…]
Original Prop Blog: Three Year Anniversary
Today marks the three year anniversary of the Original Prop Blog. Three years ago today I published its first article, “The Hobby Without A Name…“
[Read more…]
New Zealand Herald “Fraud of the Rings” Story Gets It Wrong About Original “Lord of the Rings” Movie Prop Collection
Reporter Joseph Barratt authored a news feature in this past weekend’s “Herald on Sunday” (published online by The New Zealand Herald) titled “Fraud of the Rings?” which focused on Troika Brodsky and his collection of original movie props used in the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. The collector was both surprised and dismayed by the story that was published, questioning his credibility and the authenticity of the pieces in his collection created by Weta Workshop and sourced from highly publicized, direct from the studio sources (New Line Cinema Auctions and a Hasbro sweepstakes contest). [Read more…]
Update on New York State Assembly Bill A01730/S4313B: Seeks More Transparency For Auction Houses
This article serves as an update to a feature published one year ago (see Latest Version of New York State Assembly Bill A01730: Seeks Prohibition of Auction House “Sham” Bids Without Disclosure). [Read more…]
Auction Fraud at Center of FBI & Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Report for 2009
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued their Annual Report a few months ago. Among the highlights is that auction fraud – a frequent topic in the hobby of collecting original television and movie props and wardrobe – was reported to make up one of four complaints made to the organization. [Read more…]