Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang. Photo: Chang for Senate website.
On January 4th California Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang (R- Diamond Bar) introduced Assembly Bill 1570, "An act to amend… the Civil Code, relating to collectibles.". Chang, who represents the 55th Assembly District in Sacramento, issued a press release on January 5th regarding the introduction of the bill. You can read the press release HERE and the bill in it's entirety HERE.
The bill currently protects the rights of consumers purchasing sports related memorabilia. AB 1570 removes any specific reference to "sports" or sports related items, such as equipment, allowing it to protect the rights of all memorabilia collectors, regardless of the niche. It states "This bill would instead define the term "collectible" to mean all autographed items, whether or not sports related, as specified, and would make conforming changes to the provisions regulating the sale or offer to sell by a dealer to a consumer of a collectible in this state."
“The amount of fake autographs on the market is astonishing,” said Chang. “It’s really sad when you see people, especially children, become the victims of forgeries. The illegal practice is really out of control,” she added.
In her press release the assemblywoman addressed the issue of Star Wars autograph collecting specifically. "Because anyone can make a signature, we need to have a system in place to prevent that from happening. “And with the new Star Wars movie breaking historical records for sales and popularity, it is going to drive the number of fake autographs even higher.”
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Chang was inspired by the recent efforts of Mark Hamill to help fans and collectors identify his authentic signature on Twitter. “I got on the phone with him and it was very touching to see how passionate he was,” Chang told the Los Angeles Times . “What he said to me is that his fans are like family and that he did not want to see kids being victimized as he's seen in the past. It's such an honor to have him on board with us.”
Hamill spoke to the LA Times as well. “The public is being swindled on a daily basis and the numbers are huge. I just can't keep quiet when I see people I love being hurt,”
And according to the FBI, a lot of people are getting hurt. They estimate forged memorabilia "comprises between $500,000 and $900,000" of the overal billion dollar market.
“In a way, it seems futile to try and counter what is clearly a very lucrative market,” Hamill admits to the Times. “But we can’t let them get away with it.”
AB 1570 will require dealers of any signed memorabilia to provide a certificate of authenticity upon the sale of the autograph. This is something that made many long time autograph collectors skeptical of this piece of legistlature, as COA's are often fraudulent themselves. The bill provides specific language regarding COAs and legal recourse if the autograph is deemed fraudulent.
"Any consumer injured by the failure of a dealer to provide a certificate of authenticity containing the information required by this section, or by a dealer’s furnishing of a certificate of authenticity that is false, shall be entitled to recover, in addition to actual damages, a civil penalty in an amount equal to 10 times actual damages, plus court costs, reasonable attorney’s fees, interest, and expert witness fees, if applicable, incurred by the consumer in the action. The court, in its discretion, may award additional damages based on the egregiousness of the dealer’s conduct. The remedy specified in this section is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other remedy that may be provided by law."
AB 1570, Chang and Hamill are getting a lot of attention this week as sites like Entertainment Weekly and Yahoo. have also reported this story. This attention should proove good news for Star Wars autograph collectors.
Chang and Hamill may seemingly face insurmoutable odds going up against a near million dollar a year black market industry, but who better to have on your side leading the charge against evil than Luke Skywalker?
