Home : Help : Rules & Safety (SafeHarbour) : VERO Program

In keeping with its status as the internet's largest venue for person-to-person trading, eBay does not and cannot verify that sellers have the right or ability to sell or distribute their listed items. However, we are committed to removing infringing or unlicensed items once an authorized representative of the rights owner properly reports them to us. eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program works to ensure that items listed for auction do not infringe upon the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties. VeRO Program participants may identify and request removal of allegedly infringing auction listings.

Any person or company who holds intellectual property rights (such as a copyright, trademark or patent) which may be infringed by eBay auction listings is encouraged to become a VeRO Program Member. It's fast and its simple to do so. Current Program Members include hundreds of individuals, local, state and federal law enforcement, and companies from a wide array of industries.

Program participation entitles you to the following benefits:

• Dedicated eBay staff to assist you in getting the most out of the Program
• Rapid response by eBay in ending auctions reported by you as allegedly infringing
• Dedicated priority email queues for reporting alleged infringements
• The ability to obtain identifying information about eBay users through your eBay Membership
• eBay member rights and privileges as described in the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy
• Automatic updates on new benefits available under the Program

How to Become a VeRO Program Member

It is fast and simple to join the VeRO Program. We require only that you fill out and fax to us a Notice of Infringement form specifying the allegedly infringing listings and infringed works, complete with an original authorized signature. The information requested by the Notice of Infringement is designed to ensure that parties reporting items are authorized by the rights owners, and to enable eBay to correctly identify the material or listing to be ended. After your first Notice of Infringement is received by us, you'll be able to transmit future notices to eBay by email. Click here to download the Notice of Infringement and explanatory materials. You will need Adobe® Reader to view and print these documents. Free downloads are available at Adobe's web site by clicking on this button:

If you are unable to download a PDF file, please click here to view and print a copy of our Notice of Infringement.

Automated Searches

eBay offers to all users a feature called Personal Shopper™. You can use our Personal Shopper feature to conduct automatic searches for potentially infringing items. Personal Shopper enables you to create up to three automatic searches using search terms you provide. Our system then automatically notifies you by email on a daily basis of any auctions posted which contain any of your search terms. You can use sophisticated boolean logic searches just like our main search engine. You'll need to be a member of eBay to use Personal Shopper. Click here to see how.

How to Report Items if You are Not an Intellectual Property Owner

If you are not an intellectual property owner, you will not be able to join our VeRO Program. However, you can still help by getting in touch with the relevant rights owner and encouraging them to contact us. Also, if you want to report suspected infringing items to eBay, Contact Rules & Safety. We are happy to receive such information, but must advise that we may be limited in our ability to respond to your request absent formal notice from an authorized rights owner.

Please click here for a list of VeRO Program Member About Me Pages.

For More Information

• If you are an IP rights owner and have questions about the VeRO Program or our infringing items policies, please Contact Rules & Safety.
• If you are a seller and had an auction ended, click here to learn more. You may also want to reread our Privacy Policy and User Agreement.
• For additional information about prohibited, questionable, and infringing items on eBay, click here.