Copyright accusation. No Response. Is Merch shutting down for lack of service?

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Tere asked Jul 14, '19

Copyright accusation. No Response. Is Merch shutting down for lack of service?

I am a seasoned designer and have proof for all my ORIGINAL art and everything I submit is in fact my original work. Within minutes last night after uploading my design I received a rejection email on my pop socket design accusing me that I uploaded a copyright violation. I have NEVER submitted in my years of design a plagiarized design or been accused of copyright violation as you have done!! Excuse me?!

WITH ALL THE WORK IT TAKES TO UPLOAD OUR DESIGNS, THEN YOU require us to fill out an email proof in order to resubmit. Are you just sending a form letter to every designer that is anything other than just text? Or do you have someone (or not) who doesn't know how to check for copyright infringement and just making assumptions first?

What really angers me is that I read many posts on this forum that admin is not protecting our designs from the very thing you are accusing us of. So you question us for copyright violation BEFORE you ask for proof and on the other hand you take no measures to protect the designers here?

I suspect you can't service your designers because you grew too quickly. The same problem that happened with Kindle and CreateSpace. But they finally got if figured out and now have quick "live" representative help that we expect. Maybe you need to ask Amazon to help you since you are not affiliated with them even though you use their name on your logo.

Sorry for the harshness, but most seasoned business people expect more in service that can be found these days.

merch by amazon copyright design community feedback

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CreativeDirector commented · Jul 19, 2019 at 04:40 PM

Now that you have a copyright violation the account is most likely flagged for one of the next waves of termination. The system is automated and unforgiving. So, don't put all your eggs in one basket, MBA is not a good solution for creative professionals.

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Answer 1 · 2019-07-14T02:17:59Z

Tere answered Jul 14, '19

to add:

Maybe if you could submit a form notice (like you do on every email) on every post on this forum that you can't answer within a day so at least we know you see our questions.

Maybe something like this. Anything! OMG we would at least know you see us!

We are sorry that we are unable to answer your question immediately and will respond in x # of hours (whatever time you know you can handle). We are working tirelessly to give you better service.

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Answer 2 · 2019-07-14T06:49:46Z

lawrence westfall answered Jul 14, '19

Most likely it was something in your text that set it off.

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Answer 3 · 2019-07-14T08:58:20Z

dmytro donets answered Jul 14, '19

There is something with your text in your description. Check your words on https://www.uspto.gov/

There are thousands of copyright infringements and content violations on popsockets. Something like that: https://www.amazon.com/Ecchi-Hentai-Otaku-Ripped-Pantyhose/dp/B07RNFCC3F

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Tere commented · Jul 14, 2019 at 03:09 PM

It's not my copy description. I removed all my copy from the description box since their instructions are not clear or concise. So until they give clear instructions I am not submitting anything other than the title. It was only called Flower and the added line that Merch shows that will be added with PopSocket. They are definitely questioning the design itself based on the email. They want proof that the design is mine. So I emailed them the JPEG workup from my AI file.The file is over a year old. I have too many designs that I never sold. I went ahead and sent the email as requested but probably going to need to do this for every design i submit.

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lawrence westfall Tere commented · Jul 14, 2019 at 11:33 PM

Brand, Title, Bullets, Descripton. The wrong word or phrase in any of those is what set it off. No way the image triggered an almost immediate rejection.

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Answer 4 · 2019-07-14T11:16:56Z

lawrence westfall answered Jul 14, '19

There's also this - Why can't I use "PopSockets" in my title, brand or description?
While PopSockets are the physical products, it is also the brand name of the product and is a registered trademark of the brand. To ensure proper name usage, the correct name for the product is automatically added to product titles. Content Creators must not add any additional identifiers for the product to their title, brand or description.

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Tere commented · Jul 14, 2019 at 03:02 PM

I was wondering about this. Maybe Merch got the license to use the tm.

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lawrence westfall Tere commented · Jul 14, 2019 at 11:31 PM

That is from MERCH FAQ for PopSockets

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Answer 5 · 2019-07-16T05:10:01Z

Elizabeth@Amazon answered Jul 16, '19

Thank you very much for your question and for your feedback. While we aren't able to provide any direct assistance with this kind of account specific question here in the forums, if you need help with a rejected design, please contact us via email for support. Our team will be more than happy to help you with any questions you might have.

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Answer 6 · 2019-07-17T18:04:12Z

Ramen Noodles answered Jul 17, '19

Many of these issues could be avoided if Merch would provide a simple explanation of why a design was rejected instead of just pointing us to their vague policies.

It's not that hard to do. It can even be automated. For example, if a certain word or phrase triggers a rejection, the rejection notice should include the word or phrase.

It actually is in Merch's best interest to inform us of why designs are rejected to prevent mistakes from happening again and to free up valuable resources for other things.

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regina stenger commented · Jul 18, 2019 at 01:55 AM

That's such a good idea. It definitely would seem to be in Amazon's best interest as many of us wouldn't be contacting them with additional questions and asking why our design was rejected.

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