I have just found one of my shirt designs stolen and listed for sale on a third party Shopify store:
choosemytee.com (also usateeshop.com)
My design has only sold about three shirts since I put it up, so they must be stealing loads of shirts, even ones that are not best sellers. Check to see if yours is on there!
I want to report an infringement to Shopify, but do I have to provide my phone and address? I don't really want them to provide my address to the thief.
The same people have immediately opened a new Shopify store:
I can tell because they use the exact same wording on their "about us" page. Again they have stolen my designs. This is starting to feel like a game of whack-a-mole.
I wish Amazon would do something protect our designs - especially considering it results in lost sales for them too.
Is it the exact design? "exact"
Yes, exact design. Like they downloaded the image from Amazon. They even copied the exact words I input for the title and key product features. Word for word.
Edit: I just found another one of my shirts on there. In fact, if you look at any of their shirts, you will find the original on Amazon. They have 24,000+ listings on their site, probably all stolen from Merch by Amazon.
That's terrible. I have to look too. So you contact the copyright email or form there and present your case. It's a hard thing to manage but you have to be persistent like you are in finding infringers. Don't ignor it. The more you wait the harder it is. If you have all the proof you are the originator then go for it ASAP.
Shopify is very cooperative in removing stolen designs. No, you don't have to give your phone number, an email address will suffice. This is an ongoing problem, tons of thieves are stealing images from Amazon and copying the entire listings and posting them on other sites. (Hence the call for Amazon to better protect our works). You will find that shopify will respond quickly however and they do ban accounts.
They might be an Amazon affiliate promoting your products if they have 24K+ listings, there's high chance for that than ripping off the designs.
They advertise themselves as makers of the shirts who ship it themselves. It's a Shopify store with a cart, and doesn't link to Amazon anywhere. It's clearly an automated process of scraping Amazon and uploading the exact images and product descriptions, and claiming everything as their own. Very illegal.
That story of Amazon Affiliate doesn't stick. Somebody has already proven that is not what's happening. There is a conversation about that subject here in forum.
They are absolutely NOT affiliates. They are stealing the images from AMAZON (because Amazon gives them too high of resolution, crisp, clear images free for the taking - with no deterrents). They steal the details because they are too lazy to write their own. And they print them up using services like CustomCat (a favorite of the thieves). These are ALL illegal copies and need to be taken down.
Where are they getting the high resolution images from? Are they having access to the files uploaded to Amazon? If that's true it is something unacceptable.
Yes, it's due to the high res previews that Amazon offers for buyers to get a closer view of the shirts (and for thieves to easily steal our designs). They are using an automated process to scrape Amazon and upload the exact image and product information. Even the shirt colors offered are the same as the original images.
The least Amazon could do is have a mockup model WEARING the shirt so it's not flat. :(
To have content removed QUICKLY from Shopify sites:
Write to: abuse@shopify.com
Subject line: Attn: Shopify DMCA Complaints
In the text of the message, put the following:
1. The following shirts are my copyright protected works:
(Put the links to YOUR shirts here) - this is your proof and is ALL that is required.
2. The infringing items are as follows:
(Put the links to the ILLEGAL COPIES here) - just copy and paste the links. No additional information is required.
3. I am ________ (Your name here) and my contact information is _________ (Your EMAIL address here)
4. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate, and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
(SIGNED, YOUR NAME)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it. It's simple, it's painless, and they will get back to you and remove the content usually within 24 hours of receiving it. And, they DO ban accounts, so PLEASE report any theft you find to Shopify.
Great, thanks for info. I reported the blatant thief tocotshirt.com who stole at least 2 of my designs - and probably tons of other merch seller's designs.
Oh how funny... I just went to their contact page... so tempted to tell them off... but it says "404 Not Found"
Mmm hmm... I bet some of you got to them before I could. lol
I'm curious, if they're stealing bullet points as well, could you write something likethis on one of them "Do not buy this shirt unless it's being sold on Amazon.com under the brand name (insert brand name)."
It's not like these people are even reading carefully right? I've seen people set up trap listings and it seems clear that the thief did not read what the shirt said lol
Even maybe (c) Your Name as a bullet point.. ....is that allowed?
Their email is listed on their About Us page. I think we need to email Shopify though to have them close these blatantly infringing stores down (as opposed to trying to remove individual listings).
I thought about the bullet point thing, but I'm pretty sure that putting links or trademark names like Amazon would result in a rejection.
Not sure about the (c) but I don't think that will prevent sites like this from stealing designs or stop people from assuming they're legitimate and ordering from them. I saw some of their designs had people's names on the shirt - like when people put their name in the design itself as a form of copyright.
"I saw some of their designs had people's names on the shirt - like when people put their name in the design itself as a form of copyright."
I put this copyright notice on all my designs now. I've yet to be accepted to Merch but for shirts on Zazzle. I imagine it'll at least work in my favor if someone did a p4p copy of my shirt, I can just point them to the fact that the shirt actually has my name on it! lol
I don't see why Amazon wouldn't allow a copyright notice as one of the bullet points. Is there somewhere I can read about what is and isn't allowed under the description/bullet points?
My shirts are stolen by others from amazon and always available on dozens of shopify and other ripoff stores at any given time and pretty much given up trying to remove them. Guess I feel as long as I stay ahead of the curve creatively it won't matter much + most of the time these shopify shops selling are shady and most buyers wouldn't purchase there. Saving grace is that people so often go directly to amazon to shop thus avoiding lot of the counterfeits. Don't think it is ever going to stop. YES better protection for images by Amazon can help. As far as steeling bullet points and titles I do often use my brand name in titles and descriptions and yes, these are stolen directly as well and must be automated copying. Does make it easier to search for my designs being ripped off on the web when you include a unique brand name or other unique language. Honestly, if you are out trying to police your designs - best of luck. It is sad but I think time is better served creating your next design + it is so depressing trying to stop the pirates out there, as fast as you remove one the next one pops up...
Ugh these stores are the worst. Thanks for the info. I found a much easier way to send Shopify a message though. They have these sites set up to report these guys. All you have to do is fill in the blanks. When I found them they saved me a ton of time. It's https://www.shopify.com/legal/dmca for all copyright stuff
Yeah, but that form requires an address and phone number, which is forwarded to the copyright infringers. Do you trust the thieves with your personal info?
I thought this too, and I don't trust those thieves with my info, so I got in touch with shopify and they told me that they only forwarded my email address and name, and nothing else. Apparently that's all that's required by the DMCA. It's so much easier using that form they have.
Another blatant thieves t-shirt shop: TEEZEEP: https://teezeep.com/ They have stolen tons of Amazon Merch t-shirt designs. I reported them to shopify.
