‘My artwork keeps getting ripped off by Temu and there’s nothing I can do’

“They're making money … and know they can keep doing it almost with impunity.” 

An Australian mum is horrified after her work was allegedly ripped off by e-commerce giant Temu. 

Lauren, a mum of two from the Sunshine Coast, has been working on her own business for years, often waiting until her children are tucked away in bed before she can get into her work.

Creating hand-drawn cards and prints, as well as children’s educational artwork, the Queensland mum was horrified when she spotted her own work on the international retail giant Temu. 

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Lauren claims Temu stole her artwork and selling it at a fraction of the price. Picture: ACA

Mum alleges Temu "stole" her artwork

Lauren was perusing Pinterest one evening when she spotted an unusual-looking advertisement among the other pins. 

“It came to my attention a few months ago when I was actually on Pinterest, and I saw an ad of one of my greeting cards that I knew wasn't my mockup,” she told A Current Affair. 

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Suspicions were flying, so the mum decided to click on the image and was instantly taken to a page on Temu.

There, she found the exact copy of her own card, presented slightly differently than how she advertises on her shopfront. 

Without hesitation, Lauren contacted the Chinese retail giant and explained that she was the original artist of the stolen work, but she didn’t get the answer she had been hoping for. 

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“I got a reply basically saying, no, we're not gonna remove it,” she said. Armed with screenshots of her original artwork and snaps of her physically holding her pieces, it took days for Temu to take action. 

“Eventually, they came back a few days later and informed me that they'd removed that listing,” she said. 

But this was no happy ending, as she discovered a few weeks later. 

Another one of her listings was spotted on the Chinese online marketplace, this time an exact replica of her alphabet poster. While the original retails for $25, the Temu version is on sale for a quarter of the price at $4.99. 

According to Lauren, hundreds of copies were sold on the marketplace before Temu agreed to remove the listing. 

“It feels like someone's been looking at your work in an opportunist way, almost like they're shopping for which design of mine is going to be the most profitable for them,” she said. 

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Lauren's designs (left) compared to the listing on Temu (right). Picture: ACA

Not much can be done

Unfortunately, Lauren isn’t the only person to be subjected to allegedly stolen artwork on the online marketplace. 

In October 2023, Kelsie, an artist from Melbourne, alleged Temu stole the designs of her blankets and clothing and began selling them at a fraction of the price after spotting a stranger wearing her design at a festival. 

“These blankets cost me $60 to make, excluding shipping and GST, and they're over here selling them for $14,” she said in the TikTok clip. According to Kelsie, more than 16,000 orders were placed for the nicked artwork. “It's just so hard to compete with a company like that,” she said. 

Sadly, there isn’t much you can do if your work is stolen by an online giant like Temu, said lawyer Richard Mitri.

“If somebody here has had their work ripped off by somebody in China and that person in China is directly selling to the Australian market from China, unfortunately, the person in Australia would have to go over to China, spending tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, trying to stop that happening,” he told ACA. 

Because those ripping off the artwork know how much effort goes into trying to prevent the thievery, there isn’t much stopping them from continuing. 

“They're making money, they're selling products for 1/100th if not less of the value of what they're worth to the person in Australia, and know they can keep doing it almost with impunity,” he said. 

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Following the backlash, Temu issued a statement to ACA regarding stolen intellectual property, stating that because the company relies on third-party sellers, each product is “created and managed by these independent sellers”. 

“As part of the onboarding process, sellers are required to provide comprehensive product information, such as descriptions, model or batch numbers, trade names, pricing, images, and any relevant documents,” the statement read. 

The company said it also conducts “spot checks” on random products to ensure they meet the business standards. “If we find any issues with a product, we take immediate action, which might involve temporarily removing the listing, requesting more documentation, or removing the product altogether,” the company said. 

“Temu has strict policies against sellers who violate intellectual property rights, which may include removing infringing listings, suspending listing privileges, or terminating accounts: the business continued.

“For repeat offenders or those who act in bad faith, we may impose multiple penalties, including permanently banning them from the platform.”

Originally published as ‘My artwork keeps getting ripped off by Temu and there’s nothing I can do’