[FuzzieAlum]

Folks, you have to separate your moral outrage from the law.

Thanks, I think we know the difference already, though.

You're absolutely right that it's not illegal to sell a pin in the same way it's not illegal to sell a polar bear Coca Cola refrigerator.

The difference is that Coke loves having a market for its insignia, since they profit from it. As long as the original manufacturer pays the appropriate fees and royalty, they're happy. A big reselling market just increases the number of collectors. Fraternities and sororities, on the other hand, have no desire to have a collector's market. This doesn't make it illegal - this just means that you have to expect GLOs to try to stop the resale of pins.

However, no matter who has possession of a pin, or no matter how much they paid for it, the legal owner is the national fraternity. Every member when they get a pin signs a legal document to this effect, and however the pin strays into someone else'e hand, be it by a grandkid who doesn't know better or a deliberate thief, the fraternity can choose to reclaim their property at any time. Every pin, at least those made after a certain time, has markings on the back that the fraternity can use to trace it back to the original badge holder.

Question (for you Greeks trying to protect your pins, not collectors): Have any Nationals tried to reclaim their pins by the argument that pins are stolen property?

Are there any lawyers here who are qualified to comment on this?

Also, given that so many politicians are Greek, what is the possibility of introducing legislation that would protect badges from being resold?