I certainly sympathize with both sides on this issue, which as Chris said, has been re-hashed repeatedly on this forum.
This most recent firestorm was ignited when Mel posted -- in verbatim -- Mallams correspondence to
him.I am re-printing it here because it is pertinent to this debate and has been lost in the melee.
"I am writing to inform you of the Vintage Posters from the 1950s & 1960s auction that is to take place on Saturday 17th March at 10.30am at Mallams Auctioneers in Oxford. This 240 lot auction is compiled from a 760 poster collection that has been untouched since the posters graced the front of an Irish Cinema in the 1950s and1960s. Mostly of British quad size this auction is a fantastic piece of cinematic history and titles within the sale include The Ladykillers, Dracula, The Man With The Golden Arm, Brides of Dracula, Saint Joan, Abbott & Costello, Return of the Fly, Funny Face and much more.
Please find a link to the online catalogue here: http://www.catalogue-host.co.uk/mallams/oxford/2012-03-17/page_1
Hatty Fisher
Mallams Auctioneers
Bocardo Gallery
24a St. Michael's Street
Oxford
OX1 2EB
01865 241358"Ms. Fisher sent this email to Mel's site for inclusion on his board at moviepostercollectors.com. Mel, being the good guy that he is, took that request one step further and decided to
share that information with us here at APF. Now, I know that there are a few of us who already had designs on certain lots at Mallams and it sucks if they now face stiffer competition in getting their posters, but what do you expect Mel to do? Sit on information that was sent to him to disseminate? Not share news of a notable auction with his fellow movie poster collectors?
And, what about the upside of this scenario? If Mallams sees a bump in business because this particular auction went "viral" (thanks to Mel), wouldn't it stand to reason that Mallams would look to run
more movie poster auctions? Don't we all want to see that also?
In my mind, Mel did the right thing. He is helping Mallams
and APF by informing us of an upcoming auction event.
There will be winners and losers at every one of these auctions. It is inevitable -- it happens every day.
And,
none of us has the corner on internet auctions.
Mel might not get the apologies that he deserves, but what I think is infinitely worse is that he will sit on information that will benefit us all because it might raise the hackles of a few.