Summary

Redbubble sellers, including the author, have faced unjustified copyright infringement claims from Volkswagen AG, leading to the removal of their original designs from the platform.

Abstract

The author of the article, a Redbubble seller, recounts their experience with having their original design removed due to a copyright infringement claim by Volkswagen AG. Despite thorough checks for trademark violations and using free elements for the design, the author's work was taken down following a complaint from the automotive giant. This incident is not isolated, as other sellers, such as scientist Peggy Muddles, have also had their works related to beetles (insects) removed due to similar claims, despite no direct connection to Volkswagen's trademarks. The article suggests that Volkswagen's automated copyright and trademark software may be overzealous, leading to unfair removals and urging the need for human review in such cases to prevent loss of credibility and business for both Volkswagen AG and Redbubble.

Opinions

The author believes that their design did not infringe on any intellectual property rights and that Volkswagen AG's complaint was unjustified.
The author points out that Volkswagen AG's actions are not only affecting them but also other sellers who are creating original works, indicating a broader issue with the company's approach to copyright claims.
The author expresses frustration with the lack of clear communication and the automated nature of the complaint process, which they feel is unfair and lacks nuance.
The author suggests that Volkswagen AG's aggressive stance on copyright may be harming its reputation and could lead to a loss of customers and sellers for Redbubble.
The author advocates for a more balanced approach to copyright enforcement, with human oversight to ensure fairness and accuracy in the handling of copyright claims.

Redbubble Removed One Of My Works For Silly Reasons

Sellers are receiving complaints from a Fortune 10 company

In recent years, e-commerce has grown in strength and popularity. People want more innovative products and find it convenient to have everything at their fingertips with a single click. To meet people’s demand for new, unique, or niche items, print-on-demand services have emerged in recent years, allowing people all over the world to commercialize their own designs.

Redbubble is one of these websites, but more sellers are having negative experiences as a result of Volkswagen AG (a Fortune 10 company) filing some unjustified complaints.

This is what happened to me and other Redbubble sellers.

How did I get started?

I first heard about Redbubble a few months ago, but I only decided to join it about three weeks ago. First, out of curiosity, and then to learn more about how e-commerce and print-on-demand work. My design skills are at a basic level, and I see the need to improve them because I am convinced that in the future, people with these skills will be more valuable.

Initially, I experimented with designs from various niches in order to find the one that worked best for me. With my adventurous spirit, I thought it would be a good idea to create a design in the #Van Life niche.

No sooner said than done, just because I wanted to inject some levity into my design, I considered changing the Wonder Women catchphrase to Vander Women, the latter being related to a lifestyle. It struck me as amusing, and there are many creators out there attempting to put a smile on the faces of their potential customers.

First, I checked the phrase for Trademark, and there were no records for Vander Woman, so I created my final design with free images and fonts from Canva.

About an hour after uploading the design, I received the following email from Redbubble. They did not provide me with any additional information regarding who filed a complaint about my work.

I was surprised because I was confident that I had not infringed on any intellectual property or trademarks because I had double-checked everything. They reviewed my situation until the next day and returned with further notice.

Dear Andreia, We have removed the following content from Redbubble in response to past complaints from Volkswagen AG, who has claimed to be the owner or licensee of related intellectual property: Vander Woman Adventurous Spirit

What?! My design did not include a Volkswagen logo, nor did I include a Volkswagen as a tag. Concerning the van I used, it was a free image, and there are plenty like it on Canva and other websites, so I didn’t think that should be a problem, and thus I deemed this action unjustified.

They did not provide any additional information about which aspect of my design had violated intellectual property rights in that email, but they did offer me the option of filing a counter-notice. That is exactly what I did, explaining to them that my work has nothing to do with their intellectual property and showing them proofs.

As other Redbubble sellers have mentioned, there is a lower probability for them to respond, so they haven’t responded to me yet, despite the fact that almost a week has passed.

I repeatedly attempted to contact RedBubble to have my listing reinstated, but received only automated replies indicating that my email had been received.

Am I the only one?

I believe that my design did not violate any intellectual property because I used only free elements to create it and checked the text I inserted for trademark and found it to be free to use.

I began to investigate whether anyone else had created a design similar to mine, and Volkswagen AG filed a complaint on their behalf.

The final outcome is astounding. Volkswagen AG has filed baseless complaints about Redbubble sellers’ works.

Here’s Peggy Muddles’ 2017 story. She is a scientist who has created scientific arts, specifically beetles — insects. Volkswagen filed a complaint against her because her title contained the word “beetle.” Redbubble decided to remove her work from their website despite the fact that she used the term “beetle” to describe an insect rather than a Volkswagen Beetle.

Volkswagen AG has no registered trademarks for beetles — insects or vehicles. She demanded that her work be reinstalled from Redbubble, but she received no response.

In 2018, two more of her works depicting beetles (insects) were removed from Redbubble as a result of a complaint from the same entity — the Volkswagen AG — despite the fact that she precisely described the type of beetle she drew — “Rhipicera femoralis — feather horned beetle”.

This time, however, her lawyer contacted them and provided the following explanation:

“the beetles that are the subject matter of our client’s works of art evolved over 300 million years ago, pre-dating the fine motor vehicles manufactured by your company by approximately 300 million years”

According to the story, “the next morning we had an apology and my listings were reinstated.” She was extremely frustrated because she had lost money as a result of the removed art.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the Volkswagen AG copyright and trademark software checker must resolve these issues. Because automatic is not always the best option, they require a human eye to check all unusual situations. By conducting additional research, Volkswagen AG and Redbubble will avoid losing credibility, which could result in the loss of customers, sellers, and MONEY.

Has something similar happened to you or your friends?

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