Intellectual Infringement?

[SandraCraftyCardz]

Okay bit strange this morning when going into my Etsy at the top in Red was a message some of my listings had been removed for ITV infringement or something like that and an email had been sent to my email.

Of course my first reaction was horror as I had nothing I thought relating to ITV, so I duly popped off to my email to check, but nothing was there. So I came back to my Etsy to try and see what listings had been taken down, but they were all still there! And the Red message that was showing at the top just 5 minutes before was now gone! 

So I am a little confused, but also relieved as I had no listings taken down and no email! Has this ever happened to anyone else?? Could someone have a look and see if I am in fact unwittingly violated something that may belong to ITV. Will be a question for UK people I think. As ITV is a UK tv company.

Am still a little on edge about it.

[hopeandjoystudios · Accepted solution]

When you see that refresh the page and see if it disappears. Then look for deactivated items and an  email. Sometimes it is just a glitch.

[SandraCraftyCardz]

Thanks I did do both of those and nothing all still in tact. Has made my nerves jangle and been on edge all day worrying!

[OmasFabricStash]

Hungry caterpillar, Forever Friends, Betty Boop, oops, I hit the wrong button but theses are a few infringement items I see in your shop. You could have many more removed. I hit the post button too soon so I haven’t double checked them yet. 

[ThePurplePuppy]

@OmasFabricStash 

I went thru all 10 pages of the OP shop and didn't see any of those.  Am I looking at the wrong card shop?--or maybe my eyes just gave out. 

[bohemians]

I see none of those items either. 

[OmasFabricStash]

I know I saw them but they may have been taken down. If you look in the reviews, go by recent, then the Forever Friends is there on the first page. 
Hungry caterpillar page 2. 
They didn’t show up in the shop search so it looks like the seller took them down. I love it when they listen and take our advice. 

[SandraCraftyCardz]

@OmasFabricStash I was hoping for advice from  active seller's on Etsy, I notice you have no sales and nothing listed, but  I will take them down for the moment. While I double check everything. 

[mommawhazelsquilts]

@SandraCraftyCardz 

@OmasFabricStash or Kit as she is commonly known has been a fixture on Etsy for years.  The fact that she currently doesn't have listings takes nothing away from her experiences.

Hungry Caterpillar and especially Forever Friends are all over your reviews.  Those are IP infringements.

[vintageNCtreasures]

@SandraCraftyCardz @ThePurplePuppy @bohemians 

If I do a search for Forever Friends in the OP's shop, I get 3 results.

@SandraCraftyCardz you have Forever Friends as a TAG on at least 3 active items.
You cannot mention trademarked names in tags, titles nor descriptions on items you make unless you have licensing/permission from the trademark holders.

As for @OmasFabricStash  not being an active seller doesn't mean she cannot help. 

I'm not an active seller here either but I do regularly post on these forums. 
I've sold online since 1999. 

@mommawhazelsquilts  I see a lot of reviews also with Forever Friends and Hungry Caterpillar and if the OP doesn't know this, the trademark companies can probably report those sold items to Etsy as well as items listed for sale.

[OmasFabricStash]

@SandraCraftyCardz  Let’s see, I had my first store for about 5 years when I had to get something bigger. I had my second store for almost 5 years when my husband’s health started declining. I opened up my first Etsy shop a year before he died so that would have been 2013 or so. Opened a second shop the following year when the first got too big to handle. Fabric and notions in one shop, handmade smocked clothes in the other. 
I don’t remember exactly how many sales I had but I know the fabric was in the thousands of dollars each year, normally about a thousand a month. I had over 500 bolts and many stacks of flat folds. 
In the mid 1980s I helped get a small craft shop started in Augsburg Germany so the wives had something to do and could make a little extra money. I ran that for 4 years before we transferred back to the USA. 
is that enough experience to show that I might know what I’m talking about?

[ThePurplePuppy]

@OmasFabricStash 

I know what you mean about favorite places. I think my favorite place when I was a military wife was Savannah, GA. I loved that place and would lke to go back for a long visit---I loved all the history of the place. MY 2nd favorite place was Japan. I would like to visit both but I best both have changed drastically since then.

[OmasFabricStash]

@ThePurplePuppy  We were on Okinawa 1970-71, back when it was under US control. In a way it was our 15 month long honeymoon. 
I miss how the Army was then, my husband never deployed anywhere. You had a short tour of 18 months. If you weren’t command sponsored then the wife and kids had to fly commercial and pay for it themselves. If you had a long tour it was at least three years. We were at Augsburg for 5 years. Twice we were separated for more that 3 months. Given the choice I would do it all over again. 

[PlatypusDream]

The World Wildlife Fund panda outline (their official logo) is being used as "Personalized Panda Bear Word Art".

Do sales of that item go towards that charity?  Do you have your permission to use their logo?

[SandraCraftyCardz]

@PlatypusDream  I will look into that.

I have been a member of WWF UK for many years and adopted a giant panda when we first joined as it is a major favourite of ours.

[PlatypusDream]

@SandraCraftyCardz 

... but do you have permission to use it?

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/donating-shop-proceeds-to-charity/239327254340

"You must receive the appropriate consent from the charitable organisation to use their name and trademark."

[SandraCraftyCardz]

@mommawhazelsquilts  thanks  for your input and as I said I have taken them down while I carry on checking.

[SandraCraftyCardz]

Thanks everyone for your input. I have now removed all highlighted listings. 

[vintageNCtreasures]

@SandraCraftyCardz 
You haven't removed all of those listings.

Before if I searched for Forever Friends in your shop I ONLY got 3 items with "Forever Friends".

Now I'm getting 4 items if I search for those words in your shop.

You don't have Forever Friends in 3 of the titles but you have it in your TAGS.
On that 4th item (with Santa) I see now, you have "Forever Friends" as the 1st 2 words.

You can't use a trademarked name anywhere in your titles, tags nor description.

ETA: and you still have the outline of the Panda which is trademarked by that organization.
Just because you donate and are a member of the WWF doesn't mean you can use their logo without permission to sell items you make.

[vintageNCtreasures]

You might want to read the info on the help pages:
https://www.etsy.com/legal/prohibited
Especially this part under #5:

Unauthorized replicas or copies of items, and patterns or designs enabling their creation, are prohibited on Etsy. We consider counterfeit or unauthorized goods to be items that imitate an authentic good, particularly by using a brand’s name, logo, or protected design without the brand owner’s consent. Additionally, we may consider up-cycled or re-purposed items, even if using authentic materials, to be counterfeit if they are making use of a brand's name, logo, or protected design without their permission. Examples of prohibited counterfeit or unauthorized goods include replica luxury and non-luxury items like bags and branded apparel.

https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-intellectual/22398703823

[VINTAGEbytheMAGPIE]

it takes a certain person to create counterfeit goods using a charity's brand 

[After9Marbles]

I am gonna say Sony and the very recognizable PlayStation controller they most likely have that shape on lockdown.