Thank you so much. It is very disheartening but at least there are laws in place so that they have to remove them, it’s a shame it’s just so time consuming and becomes such an emotional rollercoaster!
I saw my art on socks that my husband bought for me. I couldn’t prove it
But I know my own Frida drawings when I make them. And then I the same or similar image again being used on a Frida Kahlo designed skirt and shirts in Venice Italy. Unbelievable
Oh I’m sorry to hear that, it really is such a waste of our time trying to get it all sorted and they act like they’ve done nothing wrong it’s so frustrating
Do you have any artist insurance like Axis or A-N (artist network)? They have a 24/7 legal team helpline, it’s also very helpful for shows & public liability. If you have a similar insurance call their helpline and they can advise.
Thanks for replying, as it happens I am an A-N member and I’ve since spoken to 2 legal practices since writing this. At the moment all I can do is regularly search for copyright infringements and report each individually, they are eventually removed but it is time consuming
This is so upsetting - so sorry Jo. Wish I had something useful to add to the comments, but honestly a bit clueless about how we can protect our art! It's SUCH a problem right now! I really hope your business can bounce back from this quickly.
So sorry to hear this happened to you, it's just a nightmare - especially when it's something that's still selling well for you! I hope you get it sorted x
What a horrid thing tonnages and I guess the only way round it is to bullet proof your art as you do re creating photos which are hard to copy but watermarking, although a pain, is possibly the best way to protect your work. Good luck
Today, with AI, it is very Easy to erase Watermark, and remove pixelisation 😭😭😭😩. I think that technical solutions can éven be contourned. I think laws and severe sanctions are solutions.
I'm so sorry you're dealing with this! Theft like this really ticks me off. I hope you're able to get a satisfactory resolution. I've heard so many bad things about Temu.
I’m getting so sick of this. It is endless. I’ve been seeing other artists having the same problem with them and it is so demoralising. So so sorry they got you. It’s so awful… but thanks for shouting out me too.
Aww you are just so lovely!! 🥰 I wonder if ACID can help with Temu, it’s so much work to have to try and fight it all yourself and not sure how much good it does.
Good news is I have a lawyer on board, they’ve started to take down my images now thankfully, but the lawyer is going to let me know if they can do more for me 😊
Yes you have a point and I understand the reluctance to share artwork online because of this sort of thing, but there are ways to share and sell online that lower the risk and personally I refuse to bow down to pressure from others who are happy to break the law for financial gain
I agree wholeheartedly with that refusal and I think you shared this unfortunate incident in a fair and positive way, highlighting the work of independent artists. Bravo!
The company that a photographer friend of mine uses is called PicRights, another one is image ImageRights. You give them a list of everything that you have online. They look for copyright infringement on your behalf and take a percentage of what they get. Some of them charge a monthly fee but my friend negotiated a higher commission for them and no monthly fee. He earns every month from this. As you have a lot of images online this could be a good option for you.
Jo I am so sorry this has happened to you, and everyone else. (It might be happening to me too, I haven’t checked. I mostly use Etsy which seems to be riddled with scams)
Good luck with resolving this. I think the card companies need to make big changes to protect their artists properly.
Bloody hell, Jo. This sucks. I’d have thought that Thortful would be a bit more proactive in resolving this problem as a large proportion of their content has obviously been scraped.
Me too and I imagine they are, but keeping their cards close, it must be having quite an impact on them. We have had a quick chat online and I'll be posting about any updates I get here.
I’m so sorry you are dealing with this. I get disheartened thinking of all the art theft that seems so commonplace these days. Hang in there.
Thank you so much. It is very disheartening but at least there are laws in place so that they have to remove them, it’s a shame it’s just so time consuming and becomes such an emotional rollercoaster!
This also happened to me
Thanks for posting
It definitely is
I saw my art on socks that my husband bought for me. I couldn’t prove it
But I know my own Frida drawings when I make them. And then I the same or similar image again being used on a Frida Kahlo designed skirt and shirts in Venice Italy. Unbelievable
I’ll try to find the photo…
Oh I’m sorry to hear that, it really is such a waste of our time trying to get it all sorted and they act like they’ve done nothing wrong it’s so frustrating
Do you have any artist insurance like Axis or A-N (artist network)? They have a 24/7 legal team helpline, it’s also very helpful for shows & public liability. If you have a similar insurance call their helpline and they can advise.
Thanks for replying, as it happens I am an A-N member and I’ve since spoken to 2 legal practices since writing this. At the moment all I can do is regularly search for copyright infringements and report each individually, they are eventually removed but it is time consuming
This is so upsetting - so sorry Jo. Wish I had something useful to add to the comments, but honestly a bit clueless about how we can protect our art! It's SUCH a problem right now! I really hope your business can bounce back from this quickly.
So sorry to hear this happened to you, it's just a nightmare - especially when it's something that's still selling well for you! I hope you get it sorted x
Thank you, they are taking them down thankfully, it’s just there’s so many of them 😡
What a horrid thing tonnages and I guess the only way round it is to bullet proof your art as you do re creating photos which are hard to copy but watermarking, although a pain, is possibly the best way to protect your work. Good luck
Today, with AI, it is very Easy to erase Watermark, and remove pixelisation 😭😭😭😩. I think that technical solutions can éven be contourned. I think laws and severe sanctions are solutions.
I'm so sorry you're dealing with this! Theft like this really ticks me off. I hope you're able to get a satisfactory resolution. I've heard so many bad things about Temu.
I’m getting so sick of this. It is endless. I’ve been seeing other artists having the same problem with them and it is so demoralising. So so sorry they got you. It’s so awful… but thanks for shouting out me too.
Any excuse to give you a shout out!
Aww you are just so lovely!! 🥰 I wonder if ACID can help with Temu, it’s so much work to have to try and fight it all yourself and not sure how much good it does.
Good news is I have a lawyer on board, they’ve started to take down my images now thankfully, but the lawyer is going to let me know if they can do more for me 😊
Yes you have a point and I understand the reluctance to share artwork online because of this sort of thing, but there are ways to share and sell online that lower the risk and personally I refuse to bow down to pressure from others who are happy to break the law for financial gain
I agree wholeheartedly with that refusal and I think you shared this unfortunate incident in a fair and positive way, highlighting the work of independent artists. Bravo!
Very kind of you thank you ☺️
The company that a photographer friend of mine uses is called PicRights, another one is image ImageRights. You give them a list of everything that you have online. They look for copyright infringement on your behalf and take a percentage of what they get. Some of them charge a monthly fee but my friend negotiated a higher commission for them and no monthly fee. He earns every month from this. As you have a lot of images online this could be a good option for you.
This is very interesting thank you, I’ll check it out
Jo I am so sorry this has happened to you, and everyone else. (It might be happening to me too, I haven’t checked. I mostly use Etsy which seems to be riddled with scams)
Good luck with resolving this. I think the card companies need to make big changes to protect their artists properly.
Thanks Zoe x
This is disgusting - Temu and other marketplaces need to do more - sending hugs xx
Thanks Jo! X
Bloody hell, Jo. This sucks. I’d have thought that Thortful would be a bit more proactive in resolving this problem as a large proportion of their content has obviously been scraped.
Me too and I imagine they are, but keeping their cards close, it must be having quite an impact on them. We have had a quick chat online and I'll be posting about any updates I get here.