IPES Policy

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This is our IPES (Intellectual, Prohibited, Extinct and Sanctions) Policy.

This policy is a part of our Terms and Conditions. By using any of FishGab’s services, you’re agreeing to this policy and our Terms and Conditions.

Intellectual Policy
Prohibited, Extinct & Sanctions Policy

Intellectual Policy

FishGab takes intellectual property rights very seriously. We comply with intellectual property laws and industry best practices in order to maintain the integrity of our marketplace.

FishGab adopted this intellectual property policy in accordance with industry best practices, general U.S. intellectual property laws, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Notices of Intellectual Property Infringement

FishGab strives to respond quickly when we receive proper notice of intellectual property infringement by removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material. When FishGab removes or disables access in response to a notice, FishGab makes a reasonable attempt to contact the allegedly infringing party, provide information about the notice and removal, and, in cases of alleged copyright infringement, provide information about counter notification. FishGab may also provide a copy of the notice to the allegedly infringing party.

Counter Notification

If FishGab receives a DMCA counter notification, the removed material may be replaced or access to it may be restored 10 business days after receipt of the counter notice, unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the allegedly infringing party and informs FishGab of this action. FishGab sends a copy of the counter notice to the original complaining party.

Repeat Infringement

FishGab terminates account privileges of members that are subject to repeat notices of intellectual property infringement in appropriate circumstances and at FishGab’s discretion.

Please contact us, and we will investigate. Use the Contact link found at the footer of every page on FishGab.

Prohibited, Extinct & Sanctions Policy

This policy outlines certain types of items that are prohibited from FishGab. Some items present legal risks to our community; others are inconsistent with our values, are harmful to our members, or simply are not in the spirit of FishGab. This policy explains what is prohibited or restricted on FishGab.

The following types of items are prohibited or restricted on FishGab:

• Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, and Medical Drugs
• Animal Products and Human Remains
• Dangerous Items: Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items, and Weapons
• Hate Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Hatred
• Illegal Items, Items Promoting Illegal Activity, and Highly Regulated Items
• Internationally Regulated Items
• Pornography and Mature Content
• Violent Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Violence

Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, and Medical Drugs

Alcohol and drugs are prohibited on FishGab. These substances face serious legal restrictions and in many cases are considered controlled substances under applicable law.

Restrictions on descriptions of purported health benefits:
A medical drug claim is any element of a listing or store that suggests an item prevents, heals, or treats a medical condition or disease. Medical drug claims are subject to varying degrees of regulation. If you make claims about the purported health benefits of an item for sale on FishGab, we urge you to speak with a qualified expert about which regulations apply to you. It is your responsibility to know and comply with all laws and regulations that apply to the items you sell.

FishGab prohibits certain medical drug claims based on our values, such as claims likely to deceive or pose an unreasonable risk to our community. FishGab may remove claims that we deem to be inappropriate, excessive, or otherwise unsuitable for our marketplace. If FishGab receives proper notice from a legal authority, we may remove an item.

Resources: Small Business Assistance from the Food & Drug Administration; US FDA and FTC for information about medical drug claims; US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Animal Products and Human Remains

Certain animal products are highly regulated and not in the spirit of FishGab due to the risk of harm to live, companion, or endangered animals.

The following are examples of animal products that may not be sold on FishGab:

• Live animals.
• Items created using any animal species designated as threatened or endangered by the US Endangered Species Act or listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International
• Items made from cat and dog parts or pelts as defined by US Federal Law.
• Ivory or bones from ivory-producing animals, including tusks, elk ivory, fossilized ivory, and wooly mammoth ivory.
• Items made from human remains, except for teeth and hair.
• Examples of What is Allowed:
• Non-Ivory Animal Bones and Antlers

Resources: Endangered Species Act; Prohibition on Importation of Dog and Cat Fur Products

We expect all of our members to follow their local laws. If you are shipping items across international borders you should also consult CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) for specific information about importing and exporting items that may be threatened due to the nature of this trade. If you sell products containing feathers, you should also consult the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Animal parts, pelt or skin

Non-endangered or threatened animal pelt or skin.

When listing these items, be sure to:

• Contact the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and file declarations on all non-domesticated animal products.
• State the species in your listing description.
• Follow applicable laws.
• Listings for any part, pelt or skin from an animal listed on CITES Appendix II cannot offer international shipping.

Dangerous Items: Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items, and Weapons

For safety reasons and due to complex legal regulations surrounding certain items, we ask that our members not sell items that could be considered dangerous.

Due to the potential harm caused by hazardous materials, as well as complex legal regulations surrounding such materials, including shipping restrictions, hazardous materials are prohibited on FishGab.

While not exhaustive, the following materials are examples of prohibited hazardous materials:

• Explosives (fireworks or sparklers)
• Flammable items
• Gases
• Radioactive material
• Toxic substances (such as poisons)
• Recalled Items or Items that Present Unreasonable Risk of Harm. Items that have been recalled by governments or manufacturers are prohibited from being sold on FishGab.

Weapons

Context matters when it comes to defining what is or is not a weapon. When in doubt, it’s safe to assume that we won’t allow any tool or instrument that is intended to be used as a weapon to inflict harm on a person.

The following items are generally not allowed on FishGab:

• Guns, knives, or other blatant weapons, even if they are vintage
• Imitation weapons that look real or are prohibited by US law

Examples of What is Allowed:

• Culinary knives or other knives used as tools

Hate Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Hatred

We want FishGab to be a community where people of all backgrounds, nationalities, religions, political affiliations, and even different types of artistic taste and humor feel welcome. Art is incredibly subjective, and what is offensive to one is not necessarily offensive to others.

The following items are not allowed on FishGab:

• Items that support or commemorate current or historical hate groups, including propaganda or collectibles. Examples of hate groups include Nazi or Neo-Nazi groups, Ku Klux Klan (KKK) groups, white supremacist groups, misogynist groups, or groups that advocate an anti-gay, anti-immigrant, or Holocaust denial agenda.
• Items that contain racial slurs or derogatory terms in reference to protected groups.

Examples of What is Allowed:

We tend to allow items that have educational, historical, or artistic value, but we know that even those items are subject to a variety of valid and sometimes conflicting interpretations.

Recognizing that there may be no consensus on their educational, historical, or artistic value, the following items are generally allowed on FishGab:

• Religious symbols, including swastikas when used in peaceful or religious context (often in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism)

Resources: Federal Bureau of Investigation’s webpage on Hate Crimes

Illegal Items, Items Promoting Illegal Activity, and Highly Regulated Items

We respect the law and expect FishGab sellers to respect the law as well. Illegal items and items that promote illegal activity, including counterfeit or stolen items, are not allowed on FishGab. Neither are certain items that are subject to complex legal regulations or registration systems. Because FishGab is a global company, it’s important to abide by the laws of the markets in which you are selling. What is legal in one country may be illegal in another. All forms of illegal activity are strictly prohibited. In addition, listings may not facilitate or promote illegal acts through images or descriptions.

Internationally Regulated Items

FishGab provides a direct connection between buyers and sellers around the world. If you buy or sell an item from another country, or if you enter into a transaction with someone across international borders, you are responsible for complying with laws and regulations of the country of destination as well as your local laws.

When buying and selling internationally, you should comply with your local laws and be aware that other countries may have their own restrictions. You might be prohibited from exporting or importing certain items under international laws and regulations. Some transactions may require licenses, permits, or other documentation. If you have questions about how to comply with the law, we recommend that you speak to a qualified professional.

When you use FishGab’s services, you are also responsible for complying with economic sanctions and trade restrictions, including those implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury.

You should be aware that third-party payment processors, such as PayPal, may independently monitor transactions for sanctions compliance and may block some transactions as part of their own compliance programs. FishGab has no authority or control over the independent decision-making of these providers.

Examples of What is Allowed:
Sanctions or compliance programs may have certain exceptions to their restrictions. For example, while OFAC broadly prohibits transactions involving goods that originate from sanctioned areas, there are exceptions for informational materials such as publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, tapes, compact disks, and certain artworks. Items that don’t originate from a sanctioned area, but make a reference to a sanctioned area are generally permitted.

Pornography and Mature Content

As a creative community, we tend to be fairly liberal about what we allow on FishGab, but we draw the line at pornography. Beyond that, we restrict mature content so that people who are offended by this kind of material don’t have to see it. If you are selling mature content, we ask that you understand that there are differing sensibilities around the world and that you try to be respectful.

Pornography of any sort is prohibited on FishGab, whereas mature content is restricted.

Although pornography can be difficult to define, an item generally qualifies as pornography when it is a particularly extreme or explicit version of mature content.

We define mature content as depictions of male or female genitalia, sexual activity or content, profane language, violent images (within reason; see also Violent Items), and explicit types or representations of taxidermy.

Mature content must be properly listed and tagged as such. Not all nudity is considered mature, and examples of non-mature nudity are listed below. If you find yourself questioning whether your item is mature, then it is likely a good idea to assume that it is mature content, and you should label it as such.

When deciding whether mature content crosses over the threshold into pornography, we take into consideration how realistically mature image or images are portrayed, and the explicitness of depictions of sexual activity or content.

Violent Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Violence
We want FishGab to be a safe place for everyone. While violent content can be a legitimate part of historical, educational, or artistic expression, it should never be used to promote or glorify violent acts against others.

Sanctions Policy

As a global company based in the US, FishGab must comply with economic sanctions and trade restrictions, including those implemented by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury. This means that FishGab or anyone using our Services cannot take part in transactions that involve designated people, places, or items that originate from those places, as determined by agencies like OFAC.

This policy applies to anyone that uses our Services, regardless of their location. It is up to you to familiarize yourself with these restrictions.

For example, these restrictions generally prohibit, but are not limited to, transactions involving:

• Certain geographic areas, such as Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria, or any individual or entity operating or residing in those places;
• Individuals or entities identified on sanctions lists such as OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) List or Foreign Sanctions Evaders (“FSE”) List;
• Nationals of Cuba, regardless of location, unless citizenship or permanent residency outside of Cuba has been established; and
• Items originating from areas including Cuba, North Korea, Iran, or Crimea, with the exception of informational materials such as publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, tapes, compact disks, and certain artworks.

In order to protect our community and marketplace, FishGab takes steps to ensure compliance with sanctions programs. For example, FishGab prohibits members from using their accounts while in certain geographic locations. If we have reason to believe you are operating your account from a sanctioned location, such as any of the places listed above, or are otherwise in violation of any economic sanction or trade restriction, we may suspend or terminate your use of our Services. Members are generally not permitted to list, buy, or sell items that originate from sanctioned areas. This includes items that pre-date sanctions, since we have no way to verify when they were actually removed from the restricted location. FishGab reserves the right to request that sellers provide additional information, disclose an item’s country of origin in a listing, or take other steps to meet compliance obligations. We may disable listings or cancel transactions that present a risk of violating this policy.

In addition to complying with OFAC and applicable local laws, FishGab members should be aware that other countries may have their own trade restrictions and that certain items may not be allowed for export or import under international laws. You should consult the laws of any jurisdiction when a transaction involves international parties.

Finally, FishGab members should be aware that third-party payment processors, such as PayPal, may independently monitor transactions for sanctions compliance and may block transactions as part of their own compliance programs. FishGab has no authority or control over the independent decision-making of these providers.

The economic sanctions and trade restrictions that apply to your use of the Services are subject to change, so members should check sanctions resources regularly. For legal advice, please consult a qualified professional.

Resources: US Department of the Treasury; Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce; US Department of State

We hope these guidelines are helpful, but we cannot catalog every permitted or prohibited item. We reserve the right to remove listings that we determine are not within the spirit of FishGab. Such listings will be removed from the site, and the member’s selling privileges may be suspended and/or terminated.

If you see something on FishGab that appears to violate these rules, you can report it to us. Use the Contact link found at the footer of every page on FishGab.