Sign in to follow this  
Richard Dower

EBay selling fake Lego ?

Recommended Posts

Just saw a listing for Technic parts that don't officially exist in the colour shown in the ad.

What is the legal status of this ?...are people allowed to sell fake/clone Lego, as long as they state it's not an original item ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The short answer is yes.  If it's in violation of Lego's IP (complete clone sets & instructions), or if it's a clone product that the person is marketing at genuine Lego (fraud) that's an issue.  If it's just Lego-compatible bricks from whatever source, then it is what it is.  There's other moral arguments with some of the details on that, but not a whole lot more in the way of legality.  Plus, eBay is the Wild West for those kinds of things so there's always a scam of some sort going on.  Caveat emptor.

One other thing to mention, however, is that there are some genuine Lego parts out there that were never released in a given color but were from special Legoland model shop builds, test runs, etc., and sometimes have questions about how they came to be in the possession of the person selling them, but that's much less common than clone parts in general.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, Richard Dower said:

Just saw a listing for Technic parts that don't officially exist in the colour shown in the ad.

What is the legal status of this ?...are people allowed to sell fake/clone Lego, as long as they state it's not an original item ?

They're most likely knockoff or counterfeit. Knockoff must be clearly stated and is often illegal due to copyright infringement, while counterfeit or listing a knockoff as legitimate is illegal altogether.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.