What to do if your products/designs are stolen by SHEIN, TEMU or other shops

I recently had the unpleasant surprise to discover that one of my product was stolen by SHEIN, and some other smaller brands and Chinese manufacturers. 

Sadly, it is very hard to avoid this to happen, companies like SHEIN or TEMU don't care and will steal away. Not only did they steal my designs, they also stole the images I was using on my ETSY store. SHAMELESS!

The first step you should take, in any case, is to get a copyright with the United States Copyright Office (USCO)

The application is $65 for a single product. I get that this is money, but if you think you have a product that has value and your guts tell you it will sell and could get stolen, copyright it. I don't do it with every single one of my products but if you have that gut feeling, it is a very good indicator to get a copyright because it will likely sell and get stolen. In this specific case for me, my LGBTQ Enamel Rainbow Heart Pin, sadly got stolen. 

So how can you find out if they stole your products and what to do if they did. 

How to find out if your product was stolen?

Google image search - take a picture of your product and do a Google image search. The closest matches will come up, and even though I am sure this is not a 100% accurate way of doing this, it definitely worked in my case. 

These are the results I have when I image google my product. 

What can you do to get the products remove on smaller sites/manufacturers

Usually you can contact them directly or report the product. A very simple message stating this is a copyright infringement and that you have a copyright with the USCO (including the case number) will usually be enough to have them remove the listings. If you happen to not have a copyright case number, you can still send a message, it might just work. It has worked for me in 75% of the cases. 

What can you do if SHEIN/TEMU steal you products/designs...?

1 - Submit a copyright infringement complaint

You should immediately submit a copyright infringement complaint to SHEIN using both the form at the link below and also sending a notice to us_legal@sheingroup.com:   

SHEIN:  https://us.shein.com/copyright-noticeam-a-379.html

TEMU: Notice of Infringement of Your Rights

 Provide as much information as possible in both the form and in your communication to the email address. 

2 - If SHEIN/TEMU refuse to remove

If SHEIN/TEMU were to refuse to remove it, you should then send a cease and desist letter. Litigation gets VERY expensive, but you could utilize the Copyright Claims Board (https://ccb.gov/faq/) without an attorney as this is a type of small claims court. If you do have a copyright case open (completed or pending) you can take advantage of the CCB. This can be used with other shops not just SHEIN.

Final Note

Once you have a copyright number with the USCO, you should have an attorney prepare a form cease and desist letter that you can send out at the drop of a hat to any infringers (with [fill in the blanks] added for specific detail). If you are looking for pro-bono help, look into Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. (https://vlany.org/). This one if for NYC but there are others in other cities. 

I hope you will never need to read this but if you did, I wish you the best of luck! 

If I receive any more info on the topic I will edit this post with my findings. 

Caroline XOXO <3