An Oscar statuette that went missing over thirty years ago may finally have resurfaced in a shady online transaction.
Have you ever taken something incredibly valuable to the cleaners, only to be told it had mysteriously disappeared? It's a frustrating and embarrassing experience for anyone involved, all the more so when the valuable item is an Oscar statuette belonging to the Academy Awards. Such was the case in 1979 when Aaron Rochin turned in his Academy Award due to reported blemishes. The Academy replaced Rochin's award and brought the original to its facilities for repairs, where it promptly vanished without a trace. Fast forward to present day, and a statuette bearing a remarkable resemblance to Rochin's Oscar has finally turned up... thanks to an eBay auction.
The possible candidate for the missing Oscar came to the public attention after James Donne ran an auction titled "Rare Pre-1950 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences OSCAR Statue Award!" The Oscar was sold to Edgard Francisco for $25,000 and, according to Francisco, promptly taken to a collector to verify its authenticity. Upon being told the item was surely a fake, Francisco obtained a partial refund of $15,000, got rid of the statuette, and presumably tried to forget about the whole affair. But the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences had other plans.
It turns out that the "Pre-1950" date is actually a misreading of an ID number printed on the statuette. Donne openly admitted the number was "1928", which happens to be the same ID of Rochin's original Academy Award. What's keeping this particular story from becoming another tale about interesting things appearing on eBay is the fact that the Academy is actually very protective of its intellectual property. Suspecting that Francisco's mysterious Oscar collector is nothing more than a convenient cover story, the Academy is suing both buyer and seller alike.
Even if the statuette turns out to be fake at this point, the pair would still be in hot water. Donne and Francisco could be liable for up to $150,000 in damages for willful copyright infringement alone, not counting damages for the value of the statuette itself. It just goes to show that, in some cases, you actually can't get everything on eBay.
So either it's not theirs to sell, and they're screwed, or it's a fake of a copyrighted figure, and they're screwed. It's hard not to feel sorry for the both of them...evidently they had no idea what they were doing (well maybe the seller, though labelling it incorrectly suggests otherwise).
Donne and Francisco could be liable for up to $150,000 in damages for willful copyright infringement alone, not counting damages for the value of the statuette itself.
surely, a guy that spent 10.000 dollars of his own accord to prove it being fake isnt at fault here. what was their line of thinking?
Donne and Francisco could be liable for up to $150,000 in damages for willful copyright infringement alone, not counting damages for the value of the statuette itself.
surely, a guy that spent 10.000 dollars of his own accord to prove it being fake isnt at fault here. what was their line of thinking?
Awwwh I was hoping a celebrity was selling theirs under some fake name and the race was on to solve who it was, my guess was Bill Murray because it's something he'd do if he had an academy award.
dick move to sue the buyer also, i mean guy already thought he got ripped off with a fake and now he's going to get f**ked over by some petty rich a-holes......over what?
Aw, so my dream to nail one to the hood of my car and pretend I drove a super-Rolls will still be unreachable. I don't wanna go through the whole process of making it in Hollywood to get my own!
Quaxar: Aw, so my dream to nail one to the hood of my car and pretend I drove a super-Rolls will still be unreachable. I don't wanna go through the whole process of making it in Hollywood to get my own!
Now I've got to ask, who would actually buy an award on an online auction? It's an honour to receive an award, but buying it doesn't mean shit.
Now I'm not sure why he's being sued because he bought it, seems kinda strange since he didn't have a way to know it was a fake before he himself got it confirmed and reported the seller. Had it been real he could have landed himself trouble for accepting stolen goods so there's no way this could have turned out beneficial for him.
Wait, someone returned their oscar because of blemishes? What a dildo. "This is such an honour... What's this? My Oscar's got a smudge! Give me a new one!"
Yopaz: Now I've got to ask, who would actually buy an award on an online auction? It's an honour to receive an award, but buying it doesn't mean shit.
It becomes a collector's item.
But I think the Academy Awards have fucked up practices... who the heck makes a trophy and doesn't let the person keep and do with it as they want? Unless it's an expensive trophy for a very local organization. But this is the Academy Awards here - it's not like it's lacking for funding to give new Oscar statues to everyone else.
Yopaz: Now I've got to ask, who would actually buy an award on an online auction? It's an honour to receive an award, but buying it doesn't mean shit.
It becomes a collector's item.
But I think the Academy Awards have fucked up practices... who the heck makes a trophy and doesn't let the person keep and do with it as they want? Unless it's an expensive trophy for a very local organization. But this is the Academy Awards here - it's not like it's lacking for funding to give new Oscar statues to everyone else.
The Academy takes its awards practices very seriously. When the presenters are doing rehearsals for the ceremony, every time they say "The Academy Award goes to," it must be followed up with "for this rehearsal only" so that nobody can say the secret has slipped out. It's always struck me as a little odd since these are people who pretend to be someone else for a living, but aren't allowed to do so when it comes to a practice ceremony.
AstaresPanda: dick move to sue the buyer also, i mean guy already thought he got ripped off with a fake and now he's going to get f**ked over by some petty rich a-holes......over what?
May a massive asteroid or comet fall from space & crush the academy for their cosmic douchiness.
Yopaz: Now I've got to ask, who would actually buy an award on an online auction? It's an honour to receive an award, but buying it doesn't mean shit.
Now I'm not sure why he's being sued because he bought it, seems kinda strange since he didn't have a way to know it was a fake before he himself got it confirmed and reported the seller. Had it been real he could have landed himself trouble for accepting stolen goods so there's no way this could have turned out beneficial for him.
academy awards are gold for hollywood history-philes.
Collectors in that category take pride in finding hollywood history.
Academy Award Discovered on eBay
An Oscar statuette that went missing over thirty years ago may finally have resurfaced in a shady online transaction.
Have you ever taken something incredibly valuable to the cleaners, only to be told it had mysteriously disappeared? It's a frustrating and embarrassing experience for anyone involved, all the more so when the valuable item is an Oscar statuette belonging to the Academy Awards. Such was the case in 1979 when Aaron Rochin turned in his Academy Award due to reported blemishes. The Academy replaced Rochin's award and brought the original to its facilities for repairs, where it promptly vanished without a trace. Fast forward to present day, and a statuette bearing a remarkable resemblance to Rochin's Oscar has finally turned up... thanks to an eBay auction.
The possible candidate for the missing Oscar came to the public attention after James Donne ran an auction titled "Rare Pre-1950 Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences OSCAR Statue Award!" The Oscar was sold to Edgard Francisco for $25,000 and, according to Francisco, promptly taken to a collector to verify its authenticity. Upon being told the item was surely a fake, Francisco obtained a partial refund of $15,000, got rid of the statuette, and presumably tried to forget about the whole affair. But the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences had other plans.
It turns out that the "Pre-1950" date is actually a misreading of an ID number printed on the statuette. Donne openly admitted the number was "1928", which happens to be the same ID of Rochin's original Academy Award. What's keeping this particular story from becoming another tale about interesting things appearing on eBay is the fact that the Academy is actually very protective of its intellectual property. Suspecting that Francisco's mysterious Oscar collector is nothing more than a convenient cover story, the Academy is suing both buyer and seller alike.
Even if the statuette turns out to be fake at this point, the pair would still be in hot water. Donne and Francisco could be liable for up to $150,000 in damages for willful copyright infringement alone, not counting damages for the value of the statuette itself. It just goes to show that, in some cases, you actually can't get everything on eBay.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Permalink