RedBubble Says It Supports Artists. Here’s What It Should Actually Be Doing.

Redbubble by the Numbers

To understand why this matters, let’s look at the scale of the platform:

• Founded in 2006, Redbubble has become a global marketplace with offices in Melbourne, San Francisco, and Berli

• In Fiscal Year 2023, it generated A$290.7 million (~USD $190 million) in revenue.
  

• That year, 5 million customers purchased products featuring 4.8 million unique designs, created by more than 650,000 artists.
  

• Artists earned a combined A$85.9 million across Redbubble and its sister site TeePublic.
  
  (Source: Redbubble Annual Report FY2023, Wikipedia)
  

These numbers tell us something important: Redbubble has the resources and the responsibility to protect its creators.

Watermarks That Actually Work

Right now, Redbubble’s watermark system is easy to beat. It’s often only applied after clicking into a product, and even then, it’s in a fixed position that’s simple to crop or remove. That makes it almost useless against bots and design thieves.

Here’s what Redbubble should implement:

1. Randomized watermark placement

Bots are trained to look for predictable watermarks. If Redbubble randomized the watermark’s size, location, and opacity with every image load, automated removal would be much harder.

2. Invisible (steganographic) watermarks

These digital “fingerprints” are embedded into the image file itself. They can’t be seen — but they can be tracked if the image is reposted or misused. This technology already exists and is used by major stock photo platforms.

3. Low-resolution public previews

Full-res previews are perfect targets for theft. Redbubble should limit previews to low-resolution, heavily watermarked versions, and only deliver full-resolution files once a purchase is made.

4. Artist-controlled watermark styles

Letting artists upload their own watermark or choose from a rotating set of formats. It would make it even harder for automated systems to remove them.

File Control with Local Production Partners

Here’s something most customers don’t realize: Redbubble doesn’t print your order. It sends your design file to a third-party production partner, usually a local printer. While this improves delivery times, it also opens the door for file misuse or leaks — and right now, there are no visible safeguards in place to prevent that.

Here’s what Redbubble could do:

1. Only send files after confirmed sales

No production partner should get access to a full-resolution design unless the product is paid for and the order is locked in.

2. Encrypt and time-limit file access

Files should be accessed via secure, expiring links that prevent downloading, storing, or reusing the art elsewhere.

3. Update contracts and conduct audits

Production partners must be legally banned from storing or repurposing artist files — and Redbubble should conduct random audits to enforce compliance.

Why This Matters

Artists already do so much to protect their work, watermarking their images, reverse-searching for theft, filing DMCA takedowns. But none of that matters if the platform they trust doesn’t take basic precautions to support them.

Redbubble has the tech. It has the money. It has the scale. Now it just needs the will.

Join the Movement

We’re calling on Redbubble to make these changes now — because creators shouldn’t have to choose between visibility and vulnerability.

• Sign the petition to demand real protection: randomized + invisible watermarking, low-res previews, and secure file delivery to production partners.

• Check out GuardMyArt — a free tool we’re building to help artists detect design theft and generate DMCA takedowns more easily.