Lawyers step in to fight copying as GCA brings the issue to government attention
McDaniels Law has stepped up to assist in the battle against the Temu copycats, taking it on pro bono with Bold & Bright and Dandelion Stationery as a case study.
The news of how many publishers’ designs are being ripped off on the Chinese-owned online marketplace featured in a PG Buzz story last week, and the full extent of the copying is still unknown as more designers come forward, having discovered copycat cards on the site.
“As IP infringement is one of McDaniels Law’s specialisms, when we learned from PG’s Jakki Brown just how many publishers are being affected by Temu lifting their designs without consent, we felt compelled to act,” commented Kelly Hudson, managing director of McDaniels Law.
A meeting has already taken place between Bold & Bright’s Thea Musselwhite, Dandelion’s Jo Wilson and Kelly and her colleague Alice King, with evidence currently being prepared for a submission to Temu.
Depending how Temu responds, the McDaniels team is then planning to issue guidelines for other publishers as to how to confront the Temu situation, as well as possibly agreeing a special rate for GCA members to enlist McDaniels further help in this matter on specific company issues.
“The UK greeting card community is revered for its world leading creativity. It is simply wrong that their best assets are being plundered with no retribution,” added Kelly.
The GCA has also brought the copying issue to government attention at the latest Genesis Initiative meeting yesterday, 21 October, at the Houses Of Parliament.
“I raised the copyright issue, alongside the postal service challenges, with both Lord Risby and RT Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan,” explained GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson. “The Genesis chair John May is also taking both issues on board to feed into the Genesis response to government on the industrial strategy.”
As an active member of the government initiative, Amanda attends all three annual senate meetings, which take place during each Parliamentary session to discuss and debate issues concerning the UK’s SME community.
“We had a great meeting with McDaniels Law,” said Bold & Bright founder Thea Musselwhite who, together with Dandelion Stationery’s Jo Wilson, is leading the charge to stop the copyright breaches, having discovered both their own and many other publishers’ designs are being ripped off by sellers on Temu.
After the story broke, Emma Ball was among those publishers to raise awareness on social media, posting: “I’ve felt this for a long long time, and you all really need to know what’s going on when you buy from Temu – and I’ll be honest, it’s not just Temu.
“Temu, however are a scourge on small UK-based designers. They and companies which sell via them are lifting, no, stealing our designs, which are copyrighted in law. Reselling them at ridiculously cheap prices. I just feel that you all need to know that if you buy from Temu, you are supporting design theft!”
Emma posted pictures of her Happy Birthday To Ewe card sold at £2.50 on her own website which has been copied and offered at £2.78 by a Temu seller called ZH claiming to have sold more than 27,000 products, and added: “The irony here is that this card is more expensive.”
Studio Boketto’s Olivia Penny and Micky Calf also posted on Instagram explaining how much time it takes small businesses to trawl Temu for copies and go through the process to report each one individually, with publishers including Mungo & Shoddy, Dean Morris, Stormy Knight, Klara Hawkins, Bow & Belle, and Lil Wabbit showing support as well as sharing their own experiences.
As well as being a supplier member of the GCA, McDaniels Law also sponsored The Henries awards and, as featured on PG Buzz last week, has recently had its prowess recognised in the law and business circles, with Kelly highlighted as a leading partner.
