Amazon Design Theft of Zazzlers Art

On May 11, 2016 I received an email from a fellow Zazzler alerting me to the fact that one of my designs from my Zazzle shop was appearing on a product in a Amazon store of a Chinese seller. OMG! Once I started viewing more products on the Amazon website, I discovered hundreds, if not thousands, of products with my copyright art stolen from my Zazzle Shops of JaguarJulieFlowers and JaguarJulieDesigns! This story is marked with the hashtags of #amazon #zazzle #stopimagetheft #stopcopyrightinfringement #chinesesellers

JaguarJulieFlowers and JaguarJulieDesigns - Zazzle Shops
Copyright Art of JaguarJulie Ann Brady
Some of the stolen art from Zazzle appearing on Amazon's marketplace

I initially filed one infringement complaint on May 11th and then wondered, "what about my sunflowers and gerbera daisies?" This floral art is my main passion in that I raised sunflowers from seeds for 4 consecutive years. Day after day, I toiled in my gardens to nurture the seedlings and then plants. Then, photograph the thousands of blossoms; edit the photos; upload the photos and design products on Zazzle.

And, what is my reward? Chinese content thieves plow through our product portfolios on Zazzle to unceremoniously take our copyright art for use in stores on Amazon! Why hasn't Zazzle protected our images with watermarks?

I have now spent three consecutive days filing my infringement complaints with Amazon and also writing one star reviews on the products with my copyrighted art. It is a thankless job. Why is Amazon enabling all these content thieves? Greed??

Infringement Complaints Filed with Amazon

I find that spending hours searching products on the Amazon marketplace, matching then up with our copyright images being offered on Zazzle, and then populating the information into a copyright infringement form on Amazon, is the most thankless way to spend my time. It is a buzzkill in that it zaps all creative juices and makes me kind of testy. Is all this reporting going to do anything to nip this thievery in the bud?

Roll Call of Amazon Sellers - Content Thieves
Of the various infringement complaints I filed on Amazon, a good majority of the products with my copyrighted art were being offered by multiple Amazon sellers. And, many of those sellers were just launched! I compiled an initial list of Amazon sellers who are offering products with stolen copyrighted art of mine that I uncovered in the past couple of days. There are many, many more who launch probably daily. When you review the Amazon sellers information, most of them state China, while a few are now showing locations in the U.S.A.

A list of those Amazon sellers with stolen copyright images from Zazzle: 0RMD0y, 1Croninoutlet, BCUASBCOBNIAnic, BsdeRd, Cireurus, classic pillowcase, CONINIENEN, Cool Martha, creative pillowcase, Cuban energy, deardeer, Douubt, DreamStage, Dream-VX, E3jOiY, Endoune, Fashion pillow DIY, Fashion Tee, fashionluckypillowcase, gk3Ugvg, happy pillowcase, haweh1, HDUOV8R, HEATO, heiheipillowcase, Honey Pillowcase, JamieSaleStore, JeremyArtStore, jiajiahuishop, PILLOWLIEPUAACOCO, Plankey, Poppy-Love, qhT7fI8, Qos, Rainy man325, reyrhr3, UjjoUc0, vvI0D2, XBSHEBC, Xilinx, YAOYAO, Ywo25ue, ZFSaleStore

Amazon Seller: DreamStage selling my copyrighted art "Bright Sunflowers"

It seems there is a big market for using other people's copyrighted art on pillowcases! Amazon Seller DreamStage has this information on a pillowcase product B013DYT6PO showcasing my Bright Sunflowers copyrighted art from my Zazzle shop. They suggest you send them YOUR pictures/photos with images not small than 1000 pixel.

DreamStage posting of my copyrighted art
My Zazzle original art of Pretty Yellow Orange Sunflower of 2014

One of the products with my copyright art stolen from Zazzle actually sold several with a variety of reviews. You see 13 reviews given for this product -- 11 are from verified purchases!

Pretty Yellow Orange Sunflower Of 2014 Throw Pillow Case 18x18 by Apexshell
My Zazzle original art of Pretty Yellow Orange Sunflower of 2014

Some of the more positive reviews of this product by Amazon customers with a verified purchase.

 

 

 

My initial reporting of copyright infringement complaints focused on my Zazzle throw pillows art being used to sell pillow cases / pillowcases in the Amazon stores. Searching on Amazon this morning revealed over a million products; specifically 1,103,879 results for Pillow Cover Pillowcase! Oh my, can you imagine how many of those are stolen copyright art? I started with pillowcases and will be looking at other products!

Amazon products: 1,103,879 results for "Pillow Cover Pillowcase"

This morning, I added my voice to the discussion on the Zazzle Forum about Zazzlers and Amazon design theft.

Over the past couple of days, I have also penned dozens of one star reviews of those products being offered on Amazon using my copyrighted art without my permission. In the three screen captures below, you see a thumbnail of the Amazon product with my copyrighted art. Each caption shares my original Zazzle art. I did not provide a link to the bootleg products on Amazon though!

My original Zazzle art of Two Amazing Autumn Beauty Sunflower Blossoms

My original Zazzle art of Boldly Sunny Sunflowers

On the Amazon marketplace, some of the products, featuring my copyright art by a Chinese seller, actually have multiple sales. Some of the customers' reviews state that they are pleased with the item while a few are not so pleased by the quality. Hey, show me the money! These sellers have reaped the rewards from my hard work. I am retired, living on below the national average social security payments. These illegal sales have stolen money out of my pocket.

Will this ever end? I don't think it will unless Zazzle and Amazon actually get aggressive and do something now to stop this thievery. 

Sign the Change.org Petition to Jeff Bezos -- There is a online Petition that you can sign. "Petitioning Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com. Tell Amazon to stop its third-party sellers from stealing intellectual property and selling it in the Amazon Marketplace. --Cindy Bendel Centreville, VA"