Over the course of several (5) months, I have had to contact Etsy regarding a single user stealing our images and posting in their shop as their own. Each request has resulted in our images being removed, no argument there. We at Bellas have informed other reputable Freeze-Dried Candy Makers of their work being plagiarized by this individual and the offending materials have been removed, no argument there either. My argument is, that Etsy continues to allow this person to sell on their platform KNOWING that most, if not all, images are plagiarized.

I have contacted Etsy regarding their own Intellectual Policy which states: “Etsy terminates selling privileges of members who are subject to repeat or multiple notices of intellectual property infringement in appropriate circumstances and at Etsy’s discretion” for which I received a prompt reply via email from Etsy: “When we receive more than one notice of infringement about a seller, we review each case individually and weigh numerous factors (not just the number of notices) before closing a shop. In order to maintain the integrity of our internal review process, we cannot provide further insight.”

So, which is it Etsy, repeat or multiple notices of IP infringement or other factors, (not just the number of notices)? Your double speak is not good enough for me. 5 times I have had to take my time to complete a DMCA notice on the same individual for the same offenses, and 5 times you have held his hand, allowed him to diminish the reputation of a reputable Candy Company, reduce my SEO and Google Ranking, among  other items of concern. And then to have Etsy end with “We encourage you to continue reporting any further infringement you may find using our online reporting form.” as if I have nothing but time to police their platform while they continue to charge fees for selling products using other peoples hard work.

At this point, Etsy seems more of a scam than a legitimate platform where the riff-raff of the Internet can sell goods using other peoples imagery, words, music, videos, and any other digital means while hiding behind the laws meant to protect big corporations. Well, you cannot hide behind a Small Claims suit. And, once I win, EVERYONE will be in line to sue for the same reasons. $3,500 may not be much, but multiply that times the number of illegitimate digital media they allow to be on their site and it will break them, yes, it will break them.

If you are a company with digital imagery used for your products, I would check Etsy to see if any of your copyrighted items are there. Then send a DMCA notice to them using their own link – online reporting form. The first three infractions I grouped everything together but the last two I submitted individually. If I have to do their due diligence, then they will receive a single report for every infraction. After all, why make it easy for Etsy and their illegitimate shop owners to profit off the backs of hard working people?

Unrelated to Etsy, but the same issue, we have had their website removed 4 times, and working on the 5th.