Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Rickenbacker should get this phony Ric importer kicked off eBay. He's importing fakes from his location in Japan. I would hate to see these things circulating in North America with more frequency:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=906901639

Why? He's not trying to pass it off as a Ric, he's selling it as a Greco...

Even selling a fake Rickenbacker labelled accurately as "imitation" still infringes on the right to use the design and styling which was paid for and developed by Rickenbacker. The company doing this is stealing from RIC, and then directly competing with them on the same market. This is the same as recording a cover version of a song without obtaining the copyright, and making money that should rightfully go to the owner. Rickenbacker owns the designs that it has gone to the trouble and expense of producing.

I think his point (and I think this is worth clarification from someone in the legal profession) was that the guy *selling* the guitar on eBay second-hand is still in the right.

So Greco misused the Rickenbacker design. This guy bought his guitar legally at some point. Now he's stuck with it? He's not allowed to sell his own guitar?

I don't think he should use the RIC name. It doesn't say it anywhere on the guitar, so he's using the RIC trademarked name to sell it, even though he admits it's a fake. If it's used, then he should be able to list and sell it, just don't mention any type of comparo or use the Rickenbacker name, because it's just not right. When you search "Rickenbacker" on ebay, no other guitar should come up other than a Rickenbacker.

What happened to Free Enterprise? If he puts a Ric Namplate on and sells it as a Ric then he's liable for infringement of copywrite laws...Ric will then persue...and I do mean PERSUE! There have been other guitars on eBay such as: Tiesco, National, Riff, Rogue and MANY OTHERS that use the term "Ric-look-alike" and such. They have all been squashed... which makes me feel that the sellers' rights have been infringed upon. What about the Fender style copies, and the Les Paul copies, and all the other copies that are NOT pulled because of infringement rights? I personally wouldn't mind a Ric copy if it's done very well. Not that I'd rather have a copy than the original, but because "copy or imitation is the most sincere form of flattery" right? Well, anyway, I believe this seller is well within his rights. Thanks for listening to my 2 cents worth. AL A.

Ah, but we are not talking about Fender or Gibson style copies. Rickenbacker has acted aggressively over the years to protect its "trade dress" while Fender and Gibson have only gone after headstock copiers, and even then not consistently. Plus Fender and Gibson have diluted their position by making cheap copies under their own name.

I'm not sure, but I believe Rickenbacker's position is that the existence of the copy is illegal, and I believe they will pursue where possible whether or not it is called a Rick copy. And Rickenbacker has successful settlements to back up its position.

It appears to have been eliminated from eBay. Mission accomplished. My beef is that the guy is/was setting up shop in Japan to basically import phony guitars via eBay.

Once again, Dave Westheimer has pretty much nailed the issue with his post. My take on the whole thing is right there along with his.

I once tried to sell a Rick 300 pickguard on eBay which was a weird color (cream) and I labeled it as a "replacement Rickenbacker pickguard" or something. It was obviously not a stock part.

I then received a polite email from John (Hall) saying that I would need to pull it from eBay, but that I was welcome to use the word "Rickenbacker" in the DESCRIPTION, just not in the heading. I did so and it eventually sold.

If this guy had put the guitar on eBay as, say, "Hollowbody Greco '60s style with Bigsby," and then put in his description, "It kind of looks and plays a whollllle lot like a Rickenbacker," then he wouldn't have had it pulled, and some of us would have found the auction anyway by perusing a bit.

Besides, this thing was maufactured twent-one years ago; is Greco even still around? If not, then why pick on them? They've already been shut down! (Greco made lots of "copies," to my understanding.)

It's like arguing over someone selling old "headshop" vinyl bootlegs from the '70s, long after the people who pressed them have been in buisness or are even still living. The current owner didn't maufacture it, he just owns it and wants to sell it. (If further debate lies in the wholesale exporting of Japanese "copy" guitars, then I could certainly see the value of that argument.)

Having said that, I think it's kind of a funny guitar ("Grecoguitar" on the headstock!) and I wish I could afford to buy it for its inherent cheesecake value; and I don't think that, by saying so, it makes me less of a devout fan of the fine instruments that Rickenbacker makes and sells.

The guitar, though not recently manufactured, is still a ripoff of a logo that Rickenbacker ownes. If I had a watch that said "Yolex" on it and it looked like a rolex and I was selling it on eBay or on 5th Avenue in NY, I'd probably get in trouble...eventually. I'm sure the guy is honest and just trying to make a buck and I should have let it rest, but it just bugs me. And I'm a trouble-maker anyway. Like Kenny, however, I too appreciate the cheese factor of it. I believe the phony Ric was used alot by a band called the "Burds" in the 60's.

And you know what? Even thought that "yolex" would tell time, it could never replace the real deal, and would sell for a lot less, as a reflection of its quality. But, I'm an odd one, and would probably buy a "Yolex" too (if it was cheap enough) as a joke.

If the Greco-backer starts to get in the same price range as a Ric, THEN I have a problem.