Calgary artist Charlene Kolesnik, left, and BC artist Jordan Perkins, right. Both have had work used without permission by the e-commerce platform Temu (photos courtesy of the artists)
In April, Calgary-based artist Charlene Kolesnik posted on Instagram that the e-commerce platform Temu had taken her artwork without her permission and sold it as wall decor.
While Kolesnik was working on her new business website, one of her collectors sent her two listings of her paintings from Temu.
“It's very violating,” says Kolesnik. “They really went to great lengths to showcase it and have it come across as theirs. They sold 15 of them when they had it up there.”
Temu is a popular online marketplace founded in the US in 2022 by entrepreneur Colin Huag. It is known for selling discounted items such as clothing, electronics, toys, furniture, and more from its many international partners, mostly based in China.
Kolesnik specializes in painting landscapes of Alberta's Rocky Mountains, the Foothills and other scenery. She sells her work on the website Etsy under the business name CharkoleDesigns.
Two of her paintings, The Three Sisters and Moraine Lake and Valley of the 10 Peaks, were featured on Temu’s site under the seller DecorULife.
Canadian painter Charlene Kolesnik (photo courtesy of the artist)
She reached out to the site’s customer service department to have the items removed. She initially connected with a chatbot and “miraculously,” she says, got hold of a Temu representative. It was a stressful runaround, she says, as Temu does not allow people to communicate directly with their sellers.
“More and more sites were popping up with my designs. It was incredible how things just started unfolding,” says Kolesnik.
She had to file intellectual property infringement complaints individually for five sites within Temu that were selling her designs. However, even after writing reports, Kolesnik hadn’t heard back from Temu, so she turned to Facebook to inform people about her situation.
“I finally received a message from Temu saying, ‘We saw your post on Facebook, and we're extremely sorry,” says Kolesnik.
“They were very apologetic and said they've elevated it to their team.”
They asked her to confirm that the listings were down and, according to Kolesnik, the case was resolved within four days.
In a statement emailed to Galleries West, Temu said that independent third-party sellers list their products on the platform and must comply with applicable intellectual property laws. Sellers may be suspended or permanently banned in cases of repeated or serious infringements.
Despite the quick resolution of the issues for Kolesnik, the unauthorized selling and use of intellectual property remains rampant.
And it is not the first time artists have raised concerns about Temu’s unauthorized selling of private intellectual properties, such as artworks. In December 2023, B.C. artist Jordan Perkins discovered his artwork printed on shirts sold on the same platform.
Jordan Perkins in front of some of his paintings (photo courtesy of the artist)
“Somebody messages me and says, ‘I love the T-shirts you have,’ and I said, ‘Oh, I don't have any T-shirts,” says Perkins.
Perkins initially refused to believe that it was his piece until he saw a screenshot of his highland cow painting for sale on the platform.
“I'm like, there's a million highland cow paintings, you know? But sure enough, it is exactly my painting copied 100 per cent. No ifs or doubts about it,” says Perkins.
Perkins proceeded to message Temu asking to remove the listing. He then discovered that his piece was also for sale on other platforms including Amazon, eBay, and the Australian online marketplace, Redbubble.
“It's just everywhere at this point,” says Perkins. “I contacted them to get it shut down. I also contacted every news agency because I can't sue these guys. They're huge. So I just tried to spin it around and get publicity as an artist by telling people my story.”
Similar to Kolesnik’s experience, Temu took down the listing after a few days. But the unauthorized work had already been sold.
The key to protecting artists’ work is knowing the type of intellectual property rights (IP rights) that fit you. Some of the most common IP rights include trademarks, patents and copyright.
According to the Canadian Copyright Act, copyright is the exclusive legal right to produce, reproduce, perform, publish and translate literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, or a considerable portion thereof.
Artistic works include paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and plans.
An artist has automatic copyright over their original work once created, and it persists throughout the creator’s life plus 70 years after death, with some exceptions.
Copyright registration in Canada is not mandatory. However, when you register your copyright, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) issues a certificate that can be helpful evidence to prove that you own the work in court proceedings. Anyone can register for copyright by mail to CIPO or online, with fees ranging from $63 to $81.
Copyright restricts others from unlawful reproduction of your work, but it is up to the holder to enforce their rights by proactively monitoring sites and marketplaces such as Temu.
In cases of violated IP rights, professional or legal help may be necessary. If the infringement occurs overseas, a Canadian IP professional may be able to coordinate with an IP professional in another country to enforce your rights.
In Kolesnik's case, she hopes that putting watermarks and decreasing the resolution of her artwork photos on her business website will help protect her work from getting stolen again.
“It’s great to get inspiration from other artists and make it your own,” says Kolesnik. “But to have someone outright take your stuff is just so violating.” ■
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