You are correct. It is definitely an eBay violation to use unathorized pictures from any website without express permission. I've had at least 100 (Thats right 100) different occurences of Coyright infringement (Picture Theft) off both of my Antique fishing Tackle websites in the past 5 years. it happened so much to others, ebay had to come up with the VERO program to combat it.

Finally, a few people, including a couple of attorneys, came up with this "form" letter (below) which I cut and paste into an email and it generally does the trick. Even if you can't understand it, it usually overwhelms them and the pictures are gone within a day
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Email Header: Infringement of My Copyright Images (Theft of Intellectual Property Rights)

It has come to my attention that you have used one or more of my photographic images on your website or ebay auction, without consent.
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All images used in our ebay auctions, username Antiqlures, and websites including those on or linked from www.Antiquelures.com and AntiqueLure collectibles.com are subject to copyright. Gabby Talkington is copyright owner.

Under international (Bern convention), UK (including the "Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998"), US, and other national laws, you are not permitted to copy any original work of art including photographs which are subject to copyright without the copyright holders consent.

Please note that prohibition from copying images includes using derived and modified versions of images, inter alia because the modification itself entails copying. Any comments made about images includes modified images.

Please cease using any and all of my copyright images immediately, and desist from using them in the future.

As copyright owner I do on occasion license other parties to use my images for specified purposes subject to receipt of suitable fees, and the use of copyright notices. It is not my habit to license my images for use in competition with my own hobby.

I am entitled to damages from you in respect of loss of fees for your unauthorised use of my images, even if you have now removed the images or your auction has been removed. As a guide $300 per image is a typical fee I am able to charge, but my claim against you is not limited to this amount.

Because you have used my images in a manner which competes with my own business (hobby), this may have reduced my profits by reducing the prices I am able to obtain for my own similar items, or by stopping my items from selling or reaching our minimum price.

I am also entitled to request from you an account of any profits or benefits you have derived from the unauthorised use of my images, and to pay me the amount of your profit or benefit. I hereby request that you provide such account and make the appropriate payment to me.

I am entitled to, and do, hold you responsible for any and all costs I incur in obtaining satisfaction against you, including administrative fees and legal costs.

I may have already given notice to ebay or your ISP about your infringement, and reserve the right to do in future.

I request that you provide me within seven days with a written undertaking that you will not use any of me copyright images in the future.

I request that you provide me within seven days with your account of all profits or benefits as mentioned above, including all previous uses of my images.

I request that you forward to us within seven days your offer to cover all the above-mentioned profits, costs, and losses, and enclose a bank check or make a transfer to our bank account. On receipt of this offer and payment, I will consider your offer, and at our absolute discretion, decide whether to accept it.

If I do not consider your offer acceptable, or if you fail to make an offer within the time, I will pass this matter to my legal advisors with instructions to enforce your compliance with my rights, including compensation.

I may also need to obtain a court injunction against you, which will involve you in substantial legal costs.

Please note that many countries can and do apply a range of statutory damages, in the USA for example up to $150,000 per item / infringement.

If you have used any of my descriptions or other textual material, I may also have a valid claim against you for breach of copyright in respect of the textual material.

Use of my images may also have the effect of making your items appear similar to mine, or to give the impression that you are associated with my websites, licensed by my websites, or in some other way endorsed by our websites. It is also possible that any similarity may result in an action for passing off, for which I may have similar or other remedies available to me against you.

If you are in any doubt about which of my image or images you have used, it follows that you must have used images from a variety of sources, in which case you almost certainly have infringed the copyrights of others. It is not my responsibility to identify each and every image to you, or to provide proof of our ownership of the rights to the images. If you insist on me providing you with copies or the locations of each original, I retain the right to charge you an administrative fee.

I have invested a considerable amount of money to equip myself with high quality professional photographic equipment, lighting equipment, computer equipment, and computer software, in order to be able to capture high quality professional photographic images. I have also invested considerable amounts of time in training and education in order to produce high quality results, and invested much time in the taking, recording, and processing of my images.

It is with much anger and frustration that I note almost daily theft of our copyright material by private individuals and companies alike. You may consider your own infringement to be marginal or harmless. I can assure you that we see it as part of a larger and more serious problem. I am determined that theft of my copyright material will not go unpunished, and will seek appropriate compensation from any and all unauthorised users of my images or other copyright material, and this will include punitive as well as actual damages. Given the number of times image theft has occurred via my websites, I am no stranger with regard to court procedures.

If you have not already provided me with your name address and full contact details, please ensure that you do so immediately. If I have to obtain this information from ebay, your ISP or elsewhere, I reserve the right to charge you an administrative fee.

I reserve the right to seek any and all other remedies against you.

None of the above should be taken to limit or prejudice any of my rights.

If you in any doubt about any of the above, I suggest you consult a legal advisor.

A partial list of our websites can be found via the following link:-