question for the masses
 

Recently while looking up some stuff on ebay I came across somebody who was selling a copy of Beta Theta Pi's ritual book. Is this legal? This was very disturbing. Can our rituals and secrets be sold without any consent from our nationals?

Phitau4
"The force of many, the power of one."

That really bothers me... I hope this is not true. I really wonder about ebay. I just emailed my nationals about it to see if it was legal or not. I know we had a similar argument before on another thread about Ebay and its practices. It could be federal trademark infringement. Because the property is technically owned by Beta Theta Pi but I am not sure whether or not you can really control what goes on in Ebay. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif

Kevin Mullinix
Beta Theta Pi

Although I don't know if they are legally allowed to do this, I have noticed it too and find it pretty upsetting. I also do not like the fact that they auction off old fraternity and sorority pins. I know in my sorority you are supposed to make it known what is to be done with your pin upon death, and having it auctioned off on eBay is certainly not one of the options. I would hate to see my pin in the posession of some stranger who doesn't know the meaning and certainly doesn't value it like I do.

Here are some "official opinions" on eBay and the selling of fraternal merchandise:

If a NEW item that is for sale on the Internet bears licensed trademarks, i.e. a chapter name, symbols, etc. - it has to be approved by the national org., and they have the right to request that an inappropriate auction be ended by eBay.

If the item has "entered the secondhand market" - i.e. the person who originally owned it pawned it or sold it, there is nothing that a trademark-owner can do.

Almost all of the people who sell badges on eBay have purchased them from a pawn shop or a flea market or an antique sale or an estate sale. How did the badges get there?

IMHO, if the item is important enough to be removed from the public market, the national org. or a concerned member should be sure to win the auction, and then return it to its rightful home.

I SERIOUSLY doubt that this is legal. Ritual books belong to the chapter; or belong to Nationals and are "on loan" to the chapter. I'm not personally aware of a GLO in which members can buy their own copy of the ritual book.

So I think that ritual books would fall under the same category as member badges. They should be returned to Nationals but somehow end up "in the wrong hands".

I recently e-mailed my own Nationals about pins on ebay. It took them a while to get back to me. It took them nearly two weeks when normally I get responses in a day. The reply that I finally received seemed like a form letter though.

It said that:

They "have registered for Ebay's VERO program which allows us to block the sale of badges. We have had some success with this effort.

We are focusing on educating and blocking sales rather than purchasing badges. Purchasing badges will only "feed the market" and we want to "starve the market."

Your support in helping to educate folks, as well as inform us when you see a badge for sale, would be much appreciated. Together we can make a difference!"


So I plan on letting them know whenever I find one. I even found an alumnae pin tonight. I'm NOT happy!


I encourage everyone to let their Nationals know whenever they see these types of items for sale. If 100 GLOs throw a fit...ebay can't ignore it!

This was discussed a couple of times:
http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/...ML/000377.html
http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/...ML/000287.html
http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/...ML/000648.html

Xgirl

I got a response back from my nationals and they told me that they are looking into the legal ramifications of our ritual books being sold over ebay. However, they did say that it was doubtful that anything could be done to stop the practice.

Kevin Mullinix
Beta Theta Pi