Reselling Schweser materials and hit with fine?

Put them back on eBay but include them as a freebie to the person who purchases your favorite red paper clip. Obviously the person purchasing said paper clip will need to do so at a price that is sufficiently high to compensate you for the emotional distress of parting with such a wonderful paperclip and that price just might be around the going price of used Schweser materials.

higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Put them back on eBay but include them as a > freebie to the person who purchases your favorite > red paper clip. Obviously the person purchasing > said paper clip will need to do so at a price that > is sufficiently high to compensate you for the > emotional distress of parting with such a > wonderful paperclip and that price just might be > around the going price of used Schweser materials. Best suggestion so far. I’m working with a lawyer-to-be [3L girlfriend] who is contacting some of the attorneys she knows to find out if this is a money grab or if they have a leg to stand on. I’ll keep you guys posted.

F that and F them! I think I’ll buy counterfeit just to spite those sinuous f*ckers.

supersad

I wish to start a petition for Chad to REMOVE all Schweser banners from AF.

Wendy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You should probably phone Shweser for help. Actually, the best way to get customer service these days is via Twitter. What you should do is tweet this whole thing. Make sure you use the appropriate #hashtags for Kaplan and Schweser and endeavor to get them to admit, in public (i.e. over Twitter), what they’re doing, that they’re fining you for doing so, and ask them to comment on the First Sale Doctrine. Basically get it all out there, and let the sh|tstorm commence.

CFAvsMBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wish to start a petition for Chad to REMOVE all > Schweser banners from AF. start a thread…

I don’t really get why they are doing this. Do they think it will serve as an example? It is clear that counterfeiting will continue (and probably even increase), as well as people selling their books on ebay and the like.

Tell them to just go F*ck themselves. If they want to fine you $375, they can go through court. Inform the lawyer you apologize, you were unaware of the policy, you WILL immediately stop trying to sell the materials, however, you will NOT be sending them the materials and you will NOT be paying the fine unless they wish to incur further costs by going to court. They should back down, if they do not, you find a friend with a law degree and ask them to take a gander and help you out in exchange for beers. Tell him not to get too stressed, worse case scenario you pay the fine.

From Schweser’s website: “CFA Terms & Conditions - ProductsSchweser’s® study materials are protected by the laws of copyright of the United States and other countries throughout the world. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials, or portions thereof, in any form whatsoever, is strictly prohibited. The Schweser’s® materials you have purchased are to be used for your own personal use and benefit. Unauthorized commercial resale of Schweser materials is prohibited. Please be advised that Schweser personnel regularly monitor various commercial online auction websites in order to prevent the unauthorized sale of Schweser materials. Schweser reserves all its rights in the event of a violation of this policy, which may include discontinuation of the auction itself, suspension of your privileges as a seller, and enforcement of Schweser’s rights under law and equity.” What is “commercial resale”? Is that resale by a commercial entity, which you clearly are not, or resale via a commercial venue?

I haven’t seen anything on Kaplan’s website about a resale restriction. Where are they coming up with this?

I just can’t believe they would try and fine you. I can understand taking the materials off Ebay (happened to me when I tried to resell Becker CPA materials) but I don’t see who in the world would pay them a fine for trying to resell the items.

higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > From Schweser’s website: > > “CFA Terms & Conditions - ProductsSchweser’s® > study materials are protected by the laws of > copyright of the United States and other countries > throughout the world. Unauthorized reproduction of > these materials, or portions thereof, in any form > whatsoever, is strictly prohibited. > > The Schweser’s® materials you have purchased are > to be used for your own personal use and benefit. > Unauthorized commercial resale of Schweser > materials is prohibited. Please be advised that > Schweser personnel regularly monitor various > commercial online auction websites in order to > prevent the unauthorized sale of Schweser > materials. Schweser reserves all its rights in the > event of a violation of this policy, which may > include discontinuation of the auction itself, > suspension of your privileges as a seller, and > enforcement of Schweser’s rights under law and > equity.” > > > What is “commercial resale”? Is that resale by a > commercial entity, which you clearly are not, or > resale via a commercial venue? Interesting… it sounds like the are specifically targeting eBay, but not sure how they can do that.

Hank Moody Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I haven’t seen anything on Kaplan’s website about > a resale restriction. Where are they coming up > with this? Higgs just posted the language above - what’s the link to that Higgmond?

Okay, got it. So is a one-off private party sale of used marked-up books considered “commercial resale”?

hmmm…maybe you could “rent” the books to someone for a period of a year.

Hank Moody Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Okay, got it. So is a one-off private party sale > of used marked-up books considered “commercial > resale”? Probably not. That’s one of two angles that lawyer friends keep coming back to. For those of you wondering, that phrase that Higgmond posted has been copy/pasted is from the terms and conditions on Kaplan’s website, which is squirreled away a few clicks in, but is in fact there and does in fact say that. The issues seem to be: 1) Despite the fact that their T&C says that, given first sale doctrine, it may be unenforceable. There are some court cases where companies have worked this into their T&C and it hasn’t held up. 2) My sale may not be considered a “commercial sale” - my final sale price would likely have been at a massive loss. I believe one year old full schweser sets typically go for around $200, or about 18% of my cost from when I bought the materials. Clearly, I am not going to go into business selling a product where I sell my product for 18% of cost. I’m trying to sell used property as a private individual, not as a business model. Keep your thoughts coming, I’ll keep you posted.

How hard do you want to fight this?

It’s very simple. Don’t pay. They’re not going to pay lawyers to drag you into court and have a trial over this.

I don’t see why this is even a big deal since the CBOK gets updated every year. For instance, if you are selling 2011 materials to someone taking the 2012 exam.