Stormythos

@ShaydDeGrai First of all, thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate your insight and time. It was my understanding that copyright could only be applied for registered works, but "de facto copyright" seems to be helpful in this case. Would emailing all relevant files to myself at the time of completion be sufficient proof of ownership? I had a 'foreward' in each PDF file that included: "All contents are for personal use only. Any unauthorised duplication, modification, reproduction or sale of this model and/or these instructions in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. LEGO ® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse this model and/or these instructions." I had also included 'Stormythos' in the top-right corner of every page. I have since added a watermark to the center of each page. For the time-being, I don't think I will legally register anything as this is just a hobby, but thank you for making me aware of these avenues. I don't mind resharing as long as proper credit is given, but having someone try to make money off of instructions that I had provided for free really rubs me the wrong way. Is there anything I can do against these people selling MOCs that aren't my own? Anything other than reporting the items, messaging the sellers or notifying the original creators?

Hi there, I am new to Eurobricks but felt like I needed to bring attention to an issue affecting the online LEGO fan community. Some backstory: Around this time last year, I discovered the instructions for one of my MOCs (that I shared for free) being sold on eBay without my permission. I discovered that this seller was also selling MOCs from other creators. I tried my best to find and notify the true owners of each MOC. In the end, the eBay store seems to have been shut down. During this time, I was linked to this EB thread involving a similar issue. Last week, someone notified me about the instructions for one of my MOCs (including parts to build it) was being sold on eBay, along with other builders' instructions (some including parts). Again, I tried my best to find and notify the true owners of each MOC being sold. This seller has since removed all MOC listings (I can provide links if necessary). I also discovered another account selling instructions for one of my MOCs that I had shared for free. I messaged them, they apologised and removed the listing, only to then begin selling someone else's free instructions. I have also found an account on Etsy selling the physical model of one of my MOCs. This seems to violate Etsy's handmade policy as they were not the original designer of the item (I have reported the item but have not received a response / no action taken). I messaged the owner, politely asking them to remove the listing, explaining it violates Etsy's policy and so on, and they blocked me. I decided to do more searching and, unfortunately, the issue is more prominent than I thought. Take this eBay account for example thetrendslab. Pretty much all listings are MOCs shared online by fan builders. I thought I could bring attention to this issue as it's quite disappointing and frustrating that there's people out there taking advantage of and exploiting the generous and friendly LEGO fan community. What can be done? I have tried contacting eBay but they cannot take any action without 'legal, valid proof and documentation of property rights'. It seems that selling digitally delivered goods is against eBay's policies, and yet these listings consisting of only digital files remain available. Apologies if this post is inappropriate or if the links are not allowed.