Right to sell physical material question.

[AuctionSeller]

Last year Fox Animatio here in Arizona went out of business and held a public auction for property from the studio. The studio was a branch of 20th century fox, which is located in California. I purchased several lots of office and animation equipment. Months after the auction I went through file cabinets and other storage equipment that was purchased and discovered original animation drawings that were used in the making of several films. They were not listed as items to be sold in the lots purchased, but nether was about 75 percent of the items in the lot auctions. I want to know if I have a legal right to sell the physical drawings? I know 20th Century Fox holds the rights to the characters, but do they still own the physical drawings since they were left in the closed studio and sold at auction?

 

[JETX]

Unless there were any auction conditions to the contrary, they are yours. When you purchased the items, you obtained absolute ownership of the property, including anything that might have been left in it.

 

[AuctionSeller]

It took some digging but I found the list of terms and conditions from the auction last year. Most of the conditions are about payment and liability at the auction, so I will list the ones I find most important to my question. First off, I have found some strange information from some other dealers that purchased from this auction. A few of them called the auction house and were told that they could not sell any art from the auction if it was found in
the office equipment. The reason was that if you were bidding on a lot and won, then the only items you purchased were those specifically listed. Anything not listed was not purchased so you did not own it. I found this totally absurd. If you purchase a lot of items in an auction I would think that all items within the lot would be legally yours. The auction house said that any art work could not be sold because it would violate some law in California. How could you violate some law, which the auction house never fully stated, buy selling art work that was legally purchased in a complete liquidation auction in Arizona? Here are some of the terms and conditions that I think are of importance.


5. Bidders shall examine or inspect items prior to the day of the auction. All items are sold as is, where is and with all faults. Neither seller
nor Dovebid makes any warranty, express or implied, as to the nature, quality, value, or condition of any asset. Dovebid and seller expressly disclaim any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Dovebid will announce if any item carries a manufacturer's warranty at the time
the item is offered for sale.

6. Dovebid relies on information about assets in the auction provided by the seller. Dovebid undertakes no investigation of that information, and makes no representation or warranty concerning the truth or completeness of that information.

13. Dovebid will announce any additions to or deletions from the catalog on the day of the auction. Dovebid and the seller assume no responsibility for,
and make no representations or warranties concerning, descriptions of assets contained in the marketing materials for the auction. It is the bidders' obligation to verify such descriptions prior to the auction.

18. Certain items offered for sale at the auction may constitute "Restricted Technology." Under Federal Law, such items may not be shipped outside of the United States. Dovebid makes no representation or warranty concerning, and has conducted no investigation to ascertain which items, if any, constitute Restricted Technology.

19. These terms and conditions, and all questions with respect to the interpretation of these terms and conditions, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California, without regard for conflict of laws provisions. User expressly consents to personal and exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of the State of California located in San Mateo County.


I would think after reading number 13, that anything can be in a lot and that every item in said lot does not have to be specifically listed in order to be sold.
Does anything in these terms and conditions bar me from selling any art or other object found in an auction lot that was purchased?

 

[JETX]

Nope, in my opinion, ANYTHING that was in the property you purchased was included in that purchase. It is yours.

However, if you really want to CYA, send Dovebid a certified letter. Tell them that you found 'something' in the cabinets you purchased in an auction from them. Ask them:
1) Who owns the 'something'?
2) If not you (the buyer), who?
3) What LEGAL basis do they have for their claim that it isn't yours to do as you please?
4) If it is the original seller (to them), provide a copy of their agreement showing that ownership doesn't transfer.

Give them 10 days from reciept to respond, and that no response will be acknowledgment that you (the buyer) have ALL rights to the contents of the items you purchased.

Then send it and wait.

 

[AuctionSeller]

First I would like to say thank Halket for all your input on this you have been a great help


Now on to some more questions.

In the letter do I need to specify exactly what items were found and how many?
Would I have to specify which lot numbers were purchased? That information is long gone and all I have left from the auction is the auction brochure.

Am I bound to personal and exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of the State of California located in San Mateo County even though I reside in Arizona and all purchases took place in Arizona?

If I receive no response in the time given would that bar anyone from stopping the sale of items or them from demanding the return of the items?

 

[JETX]

Q1) "In the letter do I need to specify exactly what items were found and how many?"
A1) No. Be purposely ambiguous. "If I purchased an item from one of your auctions, and that item (desk, filing cabinet, safe, box) included contents that might be of value, who owns the contents?"

Q2) "Would I have to specify which lot numbers were purchased?"
A2) No. At this point, your question is just a 'what if'. However, since you are later going to ask for proof of any claim of ownership, it would certainly help them if they knew the date, etc. of the auction. Oh, and be sure that once they have the date and your name, they will know what you bought, so don't try to be too coy.

Q3) "Am I bound to personal and exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of the State of California located in San Mateo County even though I reside in Arizona and all purchases took place in Arizona?"
A3) Probably not directly. However, if a court ownership issue arises, it could then apply to AZ by domestication or federal court.

Q4) "If I receive no response in the time given would that bar anyone from stopping the sale of items or them from demanding the return of the items?"
A4) No. The process I describe (letter) is purely an attempt to find out what legal claims they might try to impose on the items. It has no legal standing to prevent any future claims by anyone.

 

[callmekami]

Anyone hear of the persone who bought the used ATM machine from an auction?

Apparently the sellers forgot to empty it before the sale and left thousands inside (which they obviously tried to legally recoup). It was a NO GO THOUGH. The courts ruled that the purchaser bought it and anything contained within belonged him. YEAOH!!!

 

[JETX]

Anyone hear of the persone who bought the used ATM machine from an auction?

Looked for your "ATM Auction" story and couldn't find any legal referrence to it. Must be one of those 'urban legends'. If you have a link or source for this legend, I would appreciate your posting it.

 

[callmekami]

I heard it on the news a couple years back. Probably CNN. Thought it was pretty humorous anyway.

 

[AuctionSeller]

I want to send a letter to find out exactly what is the status of the items. There are just some strong reservations on my part. Once they find out where I live what is stopping them from coming to my front door demanding the items or trying to look through my property to find out if I have anything? Since the items were legally purchased, could they involve any law enforcement agency to get them returned? These questions might sound little far fetched, but I have no clue on the law and how it would work in instances like this. I am just worried about getting dragged into court just because of items purchased in an auction. What I find strange is that during the viewing day before the auction you could, in many of the offices and cubicles, find art and other stuff just laying around in the open or in the office equipment. Those offices and cubicles were the lots and anything in those lots was to be sold. If these items were not meant to be sold why would they there? At the auction they did sell individual pieces of art, but those came with some certificate of authenticity.
It just seems to me that they did not realize certain items may be worth money. Now they want them back after the fact, claiming that it was a mistake to leave them in the lots to be sold. This is all so confusing it makes my head spin.

 

[JETX]

This back and forth and back and forth is getting tiring.

You have already been told THE CONTENTS OF THE AUCTION ITEMS IS YOURS.

You have already been told that if you are concerned, contact the auction folks.

If you want an absolute, definitive, all-inclusive, guarantee of satisfaction, you won't get it here. Talk with an attorney in your area.

If you want to get on with it.... sell the items, they are YOURS.

 

[AuctionSeller]

I apologize for the repetitive questions. Halket, thank you for your help and I will end my postings to this thread.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

Okay, I was waiting in the wings, waiting for this thread to come to an end.

I was also waiting for someone to mention the proper laws, but no one did. So, here it is :

Your answer is in the Uniform Commercial Code under "auctions".

Go to your local law library (in a law school), and ask the librarian for the U.C.C. Book. You'll find your answer there. And no, I'm not going to give you the section number. Look it up. It's there. Your definitive answer.

Now, it's over, damn it !

IAAL

P.S. All of a sudden, I heard this collective sigh, and sound of, "Oh, yeah, the Uniform Commercial Code ! ! "