TEMU stole my pictures, then Etsy removed 14 of my listings due to Etsy's creativity standards

[myBeltBuckle]

Hi,

Half a year ago I found my product pictures on TEMU. I tried everything but I could not make TEMU remove them, there are still many of my pics can be found on their website.  

A week ago Etsy removed 14 of my items for violating "Etsy's creativity standards".

In the notification emails they listed policies that I may have broken. I very carefully read all the rules, many times, and I'm not violating anything.

The banned products are my 100% handmade earrings, designed and prepared by me, the product pictures are taken by me as well. 

In the last few days I tried everything I could to find out what made Etsy to ban my listings, but I kept receiving the same panel answers.

However, the first real answer finally arrived today was terrifying:

In the message they claimed that the items I've listed are commercially available, they are not designed or created by me (a statement, not a question!!!). And then they added a TEMU link, which they believe proves that my earrings can be found elsewhere, hence I'm only a reseller. 

In my answer I explained that my pics were stolen by TEMU, and all my products are 100% handmade by me, but Etsy only replied that they need to protect their buyers and sellers, and they can’t respond to further emails about this. They didn't address anything of what I explained in my email.

I feel highly frustrated. I have 100+ listings that are a similar to the removed ones, so as I'm afraid such removal can happen again anytime. 

Does anyone know how (where?) can I prove that I'm the designer and creator and my pics were stolen? Where can I find a platform where a REAL human can REALLY look at my evidences?

Thank you!

[OmasFabricStash]

Have you filed a DMCA, take down notice, with TEMU?  All the bots see is that there identical photos of the same item, and  they pull the ones on Etsy since they can’t do anything about the ones on a different site. 

[myBeltBuckle]

I understand now why they found my listings, but I can prove they are mine, exclusively. Unfortunately Etsy is not willing to listen to the evidences. This is why I'm asking where can i find a platform where I can prove myself right, because I can prove it. 

[OmasFabricStash]

With Etsy things take time. The last I heard there was about 7 million shops on Etsy. That is a lot of sellers to deal with. 
But have you filed the DMCA on those other shops?  If you get the other shops to take their items down then there will be that amount gone. 

[MiamiDesignShops]

I am in the same boat. Many sites just steal my pictures. I just deactivated all my best selling items because Etsy says I am on my final warning and I don't have any idea what else to do to protect my shop right now. Did they also say you are on your final warning? 

[PoochandTabby]

@MiamiDesignShops

You have over 16,000 sales, so at this point, you've been selling well and it's way past time to get your own website. If you're on your last warning, you need to protect yourself and your business. 

Also to add, you have no About Section in your shop. You really need to get that section up there and add pics of your process, tools, materials, etc., and show Etsy (and buyers) that you're making your items. Having an About Section used to specifically be named as something a shop needs to have or it would affect search. It's no longer laid out in the Search, Ranking and Advertisement disclosure, but it would probably help give your shop more credibility in Etsy's eyes. Good luck!

[PoochandTabby]

It's my understanding from previous posts on this, you need to file the appropriate DMCA paperwork and send it to TEMU then show that paperwork along with your evidence to Etsy to show that you're actively trying to get them to stop/remove the items.  Unfortunately the way Etsy is operating with regards to stolen images, you have to be actively finding the culprits and taking them to task and showing Etsy that you're doing that work to get them taken down.

[artbyjocelyn]

This is getting totally out of control, it's insane, man

[BagmakerSupply]

@myBeltBuckle: We can sympathize with what you are going through. Image and other intellectual property (IP) theft is rampant - it just is more noticeable and painful on Etsy since they forbid reselling. Unfortunately the way most of the laws are written, the burden is on the IP owner to protect their property.

Whether or not another site respects the DMCA take downs, you should include copies in the materials you provide Etsy.

False positives are a problem but the bigger issue is Etsy's view on this - Josh Silverman has implied that if the picture is found on one of the wholesale sites the shop is considered guilty until proven otherwise.

[Adorabilities]

... until proven otherwise.

They sure don't give sellers much of a chance to prove anything.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

I'm not sure but I think the Etsybots use reasoning to determine resellers that is very similar to that which was used to determine witches in Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

If an Etsy seller weighs the same as a duck .... RESELLER!

[bradgoodell]

Let's be real.  For years, sellers would accuse other sellers of being resellers just because they found their pictures on Alibaba.  I know quite a few legit sellers who were publicly called out in the Etsy forum for reselling due to that.  Sellers would say "I found the same pictures on Alibaba and reported them to Etsy!"  Anyone remember crown rings and statement necklace accusations and debates?  I do.  

Etsy is doing what many sellers in the past demanded Etsy do.  And the results are arguably just as bad as could be expected.  

A bad outcome is a bad outcome.  Which is why we should always be careful what we ask for.  We may get it.  

[Adorabilities]

@bradgoodell 

That's all understandable. It would all be fine if they actually gave sellers a chance to reply to the accusations.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"It would all be fine if they actually gave sellers a chance to reply to the accusations."

Which is exactly the way that they used to do it.

[bradgoodell]

@Adorabilities Agreed.  As I said, a bad outcome is a bad outcome.  

[ChantillyAvenue]

@bradgoodell 

I remember the statement necklace debacle, slightly differently, because I used to sell real handmade statement necklaces that weren't J Crew knockoff bubble necklaces.  Mine were hand beaded lace.  I stopped categorizing and using the statement necklace tag because the whole category was saturated to hell with sweatshop bubble necklaces.  Eventually, the lace jewelry trend kind of fizzled out, and I stopped making them altogether.  I do recall the video of a girl sitting at a table in an empty room, purse hung over the back of her chair, busily assembling necklaces.  Etsy posted it as "proof" they were handmade and everyone should just shut up about it.

[ChantillyAvenue]

And sorry... I went off on a tangent.  The point I intended to make is that you're correct - be careful what you wish for.  We pitched fits for so many years about resellers, while Etsy did very little, mostly because they didn't want to throw any resources at the problem.  And we're still in the same boat.  Now they're using bots to do what humans should have been doing from the very beginning.  So from nothing to scorched earth.  This is Etsy.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"The point I intended to make is that you're correct - be careful what you wish for. "

But, you know, what we wished for was what we knew, the way they used to do it.

No one wished for them to do something about it and then added  "but do a really crappy job of it this time, please".

[ChantillyAvenue]

@OneEyeCatStudio 

We also didn't know they always do a crappy job.  Hindsight is indeed 20/20.

[ColorfulCastAndCrew]

@ChantillyAvenue 

"So from nothing to scorched earth.  This is Etsy."

Exactly!!! The old" using a sledgehammer to kill an ant".

I appreciate Etsy is trying to clean up the site but the system they put in place is so flawed it's almost laughable.

Do they honestly think images never get stolen? Did they not think ahead as to how the process was going to work regarding what sellers need to do when they're falsely accused?

Finding images on another website, and then immediatey stating the seller is at fault, with no system in place for proving otherwise, is unbelievable. The moral of this story is DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY!!!!

[PowderBlueBijoux]

Go onto the all main review sites like Trustpilot and make a post mentioning  Temu is stealing your photos and designs, Temu watches them and are pretty quick to send a message to you asking for the listings which they do take down. Unfortunately if your photo is on Temu they are likely on many of those types of sites as well, so you have to check all of them. I'd also take a screenshot of Temu's reply so you can send it to Etsy.

[ExtremeCreation]

I know this may sound unhelpful but I'd suggest to add a watermark to all your photos. I know thieves might remove the water mark if they really want to but it may deter them and get them to find other photos that they do not have to "work" on to remove the watermark. 

I remember someone had their photos stolen and the thieves actually left the watermark on the photos. 

[CostumeCoutureNaomi]

The thiefs just put their watermark on top of your watermark.

There is a chinese reseller on Ebay whose entire shop of hundreds of listings is just screen shots of legitimate designer's photos, with their name repeatedly watermarked on top of the original designer's watermark and photos.

I just had 2 of mine taken down from their shop yesterday, via a dmca.  Ebay takes them down within 24 hours of filing.

When I was going through this seller's storefront to find my stolen designs (a regular practice.... ebay should close their store over it ) I glanced at the reviews.

Most of the reviews were glowing, from people thrilled to have found copies of designer figure skating dresses for 1/10 or less of the price.

I only saw a handful of low reviews, from people upset that the cheap knock off didn't look at all like the posted photo 

The seller completely owned their deception in their response.  Their answer was along the lines of "We are a chinese company making copies of designer dresses.  Since they are copies at a cheap price, they are not going to be exactly like the designer product.  If you want the exact dress, you need to buy from the designer and pay a lot more money for it."

I just had to shake my head over it.

Ebay lets this company continue to sell there,  while they are openly admitting that they are stealing photos and designs.

I appreciate Etsy making an effort to stop this issue.  They just need a better system for live review of a seller's appeal.

[myBeltBuckle]

CostumeCoutureNaomi

I also appreciate that Etsy wants to push cheap copies out of the site, but that would require a radically different system, not just a better one. You are right, we deserve a better system for live review of a seller's appeal.

As I read, there are many people in a similar situation to me. Etsy is a Canaan for photo thieves, full of beautiful, large, high-quality product pictures.

After Etsy allows thieves to steal our pictures, which then appear on aliexpress, temu an so sites, Etsy even punish us, without giving us any opportunity to prove that we are the designers and the pics are ours.

It is frustrating that innocent sellers cannot expect help in this system at the moment. There is no human factor in Etsy "Help".

[BeachberriesShop]

It would be fair if Etsy were first contacted by an employee if this is determined by a bot before an article is removed and we are accused in many cases that this is not true what Etsy accuses us of.

We can prove that it is our photo and the materials we use.

When we contact them, we are fobbed off with the standard email that is always sent and the request is closed without further processing the complaint.

Etsy does not have enough employees if I compare this to Ebay where this is processed immediately and this is the reason that it happens.

Instead of employees, they prefer to invest in bots and AI.

Everyone now knows that the Chinese platforms copy everything they can use, whether this is a photo or an idea, it does not matter.

So this means for Etsy that we bought the article in China.

We have been selling our bracelets on Etsy since 2018 and before that on Dawanda, a platform that was taken over by Etsy.

We offer our bracelets in different sizes and according to the buyer's wishes.

The articles are now massively offered on these platforms in 1 size and also on Etsy.

I have no problem with competition but then in a fair way.

We have stopped DMCA because this no longer makes sense for us if one is removed there will be new ones tomorrow, we do not want to spend time on this anymore.

If Etsy thinks this is the right way then that is unfortunately so we are not the ones who implement the policy at Etsy.

We have an article that has not been processed by Etsy for months now. Case closed