Author Topic: Crazy number of thieves at Etsy (Read 22107 times)

leremy · « **on:** May 23, 2021, 04:30 »

Gosh. What can I say? Today I just reported at least 20 listings that took my vector and sell at Etsy. The worst part is that these thieves always take the best seller.

From my rough calculation, I think I lost at least thousands of dollar from these.

Simply browsing through the portfolio at Etsy, I think that 95% of the works are stolen and these shops sell thousand and thousand of sales. You can check their number there.

These piracy need to stop

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #1 on:** May 23, 2021, 07:40 »

I used to find hundreds of my works on there whenever I searched. I reported DMCA'd as many as I could find for a few months and now rarely if ever find abything. I think there a re a few people/ groups responsible for the majority of these huge portfolios featuring stolen vectors. It becomes too much hassle for them if you keep up with the reports. I know that a few of us working as a team got some of the biggest ports shut down a while ago and would repeat each time they reappeared.

leremy · « **Reply #2 on:** May 23, 2021, 09:48 »

I thought of using this service from https://www.protectmywork.com/ to protect my work.

I think it might be easier to report to Etsy and close them by registering my work there. The price is consider affordable at least.

What I am afraid is it doesn't work. Has any of you have experience about copyrighting your work?

panicAttack · « **Reply #3 on:** May 23, 2021, 10:48 »

I just sent email today to copyright lawyer from my country who works on provision.

Every time I report they just remove portfolio without any compensation to real author, me.

Etsy also made money from someone else theft so they are kind of cooperate in this action

I will let you know what I got

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #4 on:** May 23, 2021, 12:16 »

Quote from: panicAttack on May 23, 2021, 10:48

I just sent email today to copyright lawyer from my country who works on provision.

Every time I report they just remove portfolio without any compensation to real author, me.

Etsy also made money from someone else theft so they are kind of cooperate in this action

I will let you know what I got

Etsy does nothing and if you complain enough, they will shut down your account. They just want the listing fees. Look at the "rare" coins which are just obvious fraud. Etsy does nothing

panicAttack · « **Reply #5 on:** May 23, 2021, 17:44 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on May 23, 2021, 12:16

Quote from: panicAttack on May 23, 2021, 10:48
I just sent email today to copyright lawyer from my country who works on provision.

Every time I report they just remove portfolio without any compensation to real author, me.

Etsy also made money from someone else theft so they are kind of cooperate in this action

I will let you know what I got

Etsy does nothing and if you complain enough, they will shut down your account. They just want the listing fees. Look at the "rare" coins which are just obvious fraud. Etsy does nothing

Yes, but I don't care what they do or don't. I don't have account there. Just few people there selling my work from stock sites. I will inform if i made any progress with copyright lawyer.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2021, 09:29 »

In case anyone wants to go the DMCA route here's the form:

https://www.etsy.com/legal/ip/report

You can report multiple listings in one go

leremy · « **Reply #7 on:** May 24, 2021, 20:28 »

I have reported 30-40 listings in the past 2 days.

Gosh, it's maddening. But the reporting is quite easy and straight forward.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #8 on:** May 25, 2021, 03:07 »

Quote from: leremy on May 24, 2021, 20:28

I have reported 30-40 listings in the past 2 days.

Gosh, it's maddening. But the reporting is quite easy and straight forward.

I really did find that after doing that a few times over several months my worked stopped cropping up there. Good luck with it.

DiscreetDuck · « **Reply #9 on:** May 25, 2021, 11:30 »

I found violation of my work here.
I reported, and they acted deleting the files but...

The sellers are allowed to continue without any issues... only files reported are deleted.

https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/Designesque (86 678 files sold!!!)
https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/ywestberg

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #10 on:** May 25, 2021, 12:27 »

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on May 25, 2021, 11:30

I found violation of my work here.
I reported, and they acted deleting the files but...

The sellers are allowed to continue without any issues... only files reported are deleted.

https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/Designesque (86 678 files sold!!!)
https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/ywestberg

They need several strikes against the account before they delete it. If you see other people's work let them know so they can report also.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #11 on:** June 01, 2021, 10:42 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on May 25, 2021, 12:27

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on May 25, 2021, 11:30
I found violation of my work here.
I reported, and they acted deleting the files but...

The sellers are allowed to continue without any issues... only files reported are deleted.

https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/Designesque (86 678 files sold!!!)
https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/ywestberg
They need several strikes against the account before they delete it. If you see other people's work let them know so they can report also.

Oh a good reason for all of us to keep checking and reporting.

Quote from: panicAttack on May 23, 2021, 17:44

Yes, but I don't care what they do or don't. I don't have account there. Just few people there selling my work from stock sites. I will inform if i made any progress with copyright lawyer.

Sorry I thought you had both. Good luck getting some action against the thieves.

Personally Etsy can delete my account, they are useless, besides the image misuse and thievery, they have no monitoring for accuracy or lies or misrepresenting items for sale. Back to, Etsy makes their money on charging for listings, the rest is just a scam to make people think they can make money from their personal work. Like Microstock, a very small number do earn, the majority sell nothing and make no return on their efforts.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #12 on:** June 01, 2021, 11:01 »

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on May 25, 2021, 11:30

I found violation of my work here.
I reported, and they acted deleting the files but...

The sellers are allowed to continue without any issues... only files reported are deleted.

https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/Designesque (86 678 files sold!!!)

87420 Sales now and I can only guess, but over 10,000 stolen clipart images. 20c listing fee that auto renews would be $2,000 each period. Sales $2.80 Etsy takes 5%. In round numbers, each sale makes $2.40 but of course some never sell. 87,420 x $2.40 = $209,808 (minus fees which I can't estimate accurately) 20c per item every four months.

Maybe I should go into the clipart business?

Zero Talent · « **Reply #13 on:** June 07, 2021, 10:52 »

This is so true.

I filed DMCA reports for over 200 listings of my photos. Etsy removed them pretty fast.

Moreover, before that, I even asked some thieves about their licenses to sell.

Me: Hi, I am the author of this photo. Can you please let me know what kind of license you have to sell prints of it?

Thief1: Hello, I am selling it for personal use, as a download. I bought it from the Adobe Stock website.

Me: it doesn't matter. According to Adobe licensing, you may not:

Distribute the stand-alone file.
Create merchandise, templates, or other products for resale or distribution where the primary value of the product is associated with the asset itself. For example, you can't use the asset to create a poster, t-shirt, or coffee mug that someone would buy specifically because of the asset printed on it.

Thief1: Ok, I will remove it then...

or:

Me: Hi, I am the author of this photo. Can you please let me know what kind of license you have to sell prints of it?

Honest Thief: Hi,

The correct one as far as I know.

I am not at work at the moment so would have to check when I am back.

I'll take it down in the meantime until I can confirm. Don't think we've actually sold it.

Kind Regards
Steve

Me: Please check. I doubt that you have the right to sell prints. [... mention same Adobe licensing rules, as an example ...]

Honest Thief: Understood. We don't use adobe images to source the imagery though which is confusing. I'll have to check

Me: [... list 43 additional examples of photos stolen from me available for sale on his gallery...]

Honest Thief: They will be off within 24 hours. I am sorry I am a little in shock the amount you started sending through. If I remember right, we bought these from a bundle advertised online. Website like "by the people" or "for the people" or something, I can't remember exactly. It was a zip download saying full seller resell rights included. I do remember at the time thinking they were brilliant and a bargain. I am beginning to regret that now. If we have made a mistake, I sincerely apologise.

Kind Regards
Steve

Me: Ok. You should understand that by buying and reselling stolen photos, you are not only competing with the agency (empowered by me to sell licenses of my work) but also with myself since I'm also selling my prints. You can be in deep legal trouble if you continue to do it with other stolen photos obtained from such shady websites. I would delete them all before other authors take notice.

Honest Thief: I completely agree and understand. But we didn’t know they were without the rights. As far as we knew we paid correctly for them. The website looked legit and not shady at the time. I’ll try and check where exactly we sourced them from. I genuinely try my hardest to avoid this sort of thing.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #14 on:** June 07, 2021, 11:24 »

Here is the list of my thieves, so far...

WallRepublic
EliteCanvasArt
ColorInkArtStudio
ArtDigitalStore
AnnyPrints
Wall26Store
ExtraLargeWallDecor
LuckyCanvasStore
CanvasGalery
LWhomedecor
MaxWallArt
WallpaperHomeArt
CanvasStoreStudio
CoolWallsStore
LovelyHomeUA
BoldBlocDesignLtd
WoodLikeLifeShop
vivicanvas
DreamFamilyArt
WallArtStudio365
ColorInkArtStudio
CanvasPrintShop
WorldWallArtShop
LabsCanvas
JackiePrint
CanvasArtBay
ContempCanvas
WallArtCanvasShop
ArtPrintShopV
CanvasPrintingShop
FramedArtCo
CoastalBeachStudio
MishMashCoStore
4loftwalldecor
WallsByMe
LabsCanvas
....

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #15 on:** June 07, 2021, 14:39 »

I hate to ask this, but don't some agencies allow people to license and then sell prints? Adobe? Not that I have anything that people want to steal, but just asking.

If there are any, which ones?

Zero Talent · « **Reply #16 on:** June 07, 2021, 14:55 »

Zero Talent · « **Reply #17 on:** June 07, 2021, 17:36 »

Maybe @MatHayward can clarify the Extended License is grating Etsy sellers the right to sell prints.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #19 on:** June 07, 2021, 18:36 »

Quote from: MatHayward on June 07, 2021, 18:06

Quote from: Zero Talent on June 07, 2021, 17:36
Maybe @MatHayward can clarify the Extended License is grating Etsy sellers the right to sell prints.

Please refer to the license details page here for allowable use with an Extended license: https://stock.adobe.com/license-terms#extendedLicenses

thank you,

Mat

So just to be clear on how to read it: it says that

With an Enhanced license, you may not:

Distribute the stand-alone file.
Create merchandise, templates, or other products for resale or distribution where the primary value of the product is associated with the asset itself. For example, you can't use the asset to create a poster, t-shirt, or coffee mug that someone would buy specifically because of the asset printed on it.

and

With an Extended license, you may:

Use the asset with all the rights granted in the Standard license.
Reproduce the asset beyond the 500,000 copy/viewer restriction.
Create merchandise or products for resale or distribution where the main value of the product is associated with the asset itself, such as a coffee mug or t-shirt.

With an Extended license, you may not:
Distribute the stand-alone file.

So the poster is given as an example in the enhanced license, but it's not included in the example of the extended license.

Mat, it will be nice to get a simple Yes or No: is the Extended license granting Etsy sellers the right to sell posters?

Bauman · « **Reply #20 on:** June 08, 2021, 01:57 »

And ... what do you think about this one ? They indicate © Shutterstock or Fotolia/Adobe Stock on the pages, but I don't think it is possible to sell these backgrounds with digital download on other shops ...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MixPixBox (> 40.000 sales !)

And it also has a shop on Creative Market

https://creativemarket.com/MixPixBox

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #21 on:** June 08, 2021, 10:57 »

Quote from: Zero Talent on June 07, 2021, 18:36

With an Extended license, you may not:
Distribute the stand-alone file.[/i]

So the poster is given as an example in the enhanced license, but it's not included in the example of the extended license.

(Extended May:) Create merchandise or products for resale or distribution where the main value of the product is associated with the asset itself, such as a coffee mug or t-shirt.

Mat, it will be nice to get a simple Yes or No: is the Extended license granting Etsy sellers the right to sell posters?

Or photo prints? Which I guess the art/image is the value, while a mug or T-shirt, the view is, someone is paying for the product.

I'm back to asking, overall, what agencies allow someone to buy a license, subscription, basic, single or some other like extended and then sell prints? I can understand, none allow redistribution. So Etsy sales in the form of a download would be illegal in all cases, except by the original artist.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #22 on:** June 08, 2021, 16:44 »

Update:

Out of the several hundreds of listings reported during the past couple of days, I receive counter-notices from 2 sellers, for 10 listings in total.

If I don't reply to the counter-notice, Etsy will automatically re-instate the listing after 10 days.

One of the sellers claims to have an extended license, but neither I nor Adobe can locate it.

The other has genuine extended licenses from DT (I verified them) and from 123RF.

He mentioned to me that he is happy to see that I took action since his business is also impacted by so many competing thieves.
He even offered to help me track them down.

I have a backlog of 40+ listings and I'll continue to report them.

Edit: here is what that seller wrote:

Regarding the copyright infringement issue, i have read this article that sums it up pretty much : https://alj.artrepreneur.com/etsy-copyright-infringement/

We are aware this is an issue, and are happy to join forces to fight it. To be fair, I have reached out to photographers before (Sean Pavone), letting them know their photographs are most likely stolen without permission or proper license. So far, without much result. it seems like some photographers just accept it the way it is.Which is not okay and frustrating.

As stated earlier, I'm very happy you are hunting these sellers. And, are happy to join forces. Within the next upcoming days, I will submit you the cases on Etsy that I found.

Stocksaurus · « **Reply #23 on:** June 09, 2021, 15:23 »

Most of the PODs top sellers are pirates and to top it off there's the whole industry of derivative works where they slightly edit the images or the vector design in order to keep a low profile, finally you've the usual cases of plagiarism and cheap imitations and let's not forget the harder to find cases of "appropriative art" and the unfair use of the "fair use" which only stands in the USA and nowhere else.

There's absolutely nothing we can do, it's literally the Wild West and it can only get worse, just as next to nothing is being done against fakes and counterfait items sold in stores worldwide.

While for serious crimes you've nowhere to hide, for digital piracy you're totally at the mercy of these gangs of thieves operating outside the West and good luck suing somebody in India or China.

This is the result of the ongoing globalization.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #24 on:** June 09, 2021, 16:49 »

Quote from: Stocksaurus on June 09, 2021, 15:23

Most of the PODs top sellers are pirates and to top it off there's the whole industry of derivative works where they slightly edit the images or the vector design in order to keep a low profile, finally you've the usual cases of plagiarism and cheap imitations and let's not forget the harder to find cases of "appropriative art" and the unfair use of the "fair use" which only stands in the USA and nowhere else.

There's absolutely nothing we can do, it's literally the Wild West and it can only get worse, just as next to nothing is being done against fakes and counterfait items sold in stores worldwide.

While for serious crimes you've nowhere to hide, for digital piracy you're totally at the mercy of these gangs of thieves operating outside the West and good luck suing somebody in India or China.

This is the result of the ongoing globalization.

It has nothing to do with big words like "globalization". Globalization is the reason why we can sell our stuff across the world, and not just in the local shop, and the reason we can afford to buy cameras and other equipment we use to generate content.

Anyway, for now, Etsy is free from those several hundreds of listings that illegaly used my work.

I also encourage everybody to file those complaints since those thieves will be banned from selling if they receive multiple DMCA take-down requests.

It may even be advisable to file individual requests when the same seller has multiple listings using your work because they will add up. I didn't do that anymore because there were way too many. Doing them in bulk for multiple sellers and multiple listings was significantly faster.

Here is what one of these illegal sellers just messaged me:

We did not know that these are your pictures.
Please contact us directly if there is anything else that needs to be deleted.
We received a second infringement from etsy, and this reflects very negative on our small family business.

Thank you for your understanding

I can't empathize with that since these thieves are also impacting our small business.

So these DMCA reports will have an effect if enough people will take action to protect their stuff.

Just do it! (instead of just complaining

)

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Author Topic: Crazy number of thieves at Etsy (Read 22107 times)

leremy

Justanotherphotographer

leremy

panicAttack

Uncle Pete

panicAttack

Justanotherphotographer

leremy

Justanotherphotographer

DiscreetDuck

Justanotherphotographer

Uncle Pete

Uncle Pete

Zero Talent

Zero Talent

Uncle Pete

Zero Talent

Zero Talent

MatHayward

Zero Talent

Bauman

Uncle Pete

Zero Talent

Stocksaurus

Zero Talent

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