Mike,
All this particular stuff revolves around eBay's so-called VeRO (Verified Rights Owners) program. About 5,000 participants have signed up for it.
What you mentioned about the FDCs sounds similar to what the Delta Sigma Theta sorority has undertaken. Read about their position in their Me page on eBay, paying particular attention to the last part of their statement ("in any other way engage...donate those items to DST's archives").
http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&userid=dst-gt
I know of at least two collectors who've run afoul of their policies by listing their sorority pins on eBay. The organization made them remove pictures of the badges, while still allowing the sale.
Now I'm no legal expert either, but it doesn't make any sense to me.
It's like eBay saying I can sell a used Chevrolet, but cannot post a picture of the car since I'm not licensed by General Motors.
How can anyone prohibit a person from taking a picture of something they legally own? The possibilities are endless.
Does anybody else understand this stuff, or are these folks abusing the VeRO program out of pure militancy?