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davidcyclebackMatt, if you want a specific scenario that I envisioned when arguing my point,
it is a counterfeiter who sells his own goods. If the seller is shown to be
the maker, it is hard for him to argue he didn't know exactly what he
was selling.
Many baseball card fakes on eBay are made by the seller. These sellers may
feign ignorance, but they know exactly what is being offered.
If the item and description of the item are made with the intention to deceive
people out of money, that is the definition of forgery. Not telling people
that they are purchasing reprints is an integral part of the deception and the forgery.
People have this idea that if an art or baseball memorabilia forger never tells customers
the item is original he can’t be convicted of fraud or forgery. But this idea is wrong.
If you know something is a modern reprint, you are obligated to tell the customer it is
a reprint-- with the emphasis on the word 'obligated.'
There was a famous case where a master forger’s argument to the court was, “I never
told the buyers the painting were originals. I just never correct them when they
believed they were.”
The judge felt that the paintings were made and marketed with the intention to
deceive buyers (again, the definition of forgery), and the painter was legally
required to tell customers they weren’t buying originals, especially when he knew
they thought they were buying originals. That the painter “never claimed they were
originals” didn’t keep him from being sentenced to prison for forgery and fraud.