What Do the Lawyers Say About Digital Art Theft?

What the Law Actually Says

Copyright Protection Is Instant

In the U.S. and most countries, original artwork is automatically protected by copyright as soon as it’s created in a fixed form — whether that’s a digital file, sketch, or canvas.

“Even without formal registration, artists own the copyright to their work the moment it’s created in a fixed form.”

— U.S. Copyright Office

This means you — not the platform or seller — have the exclusive legal right to reproduce, sell, or share that work. That protection includes digital art, designs, illustrations, and graphics, including those uploaded to platforms like Redbubble, Etsy, or even social media.

The DMCA: A Useful Tool with Real Limits

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) gives artists in the U.S. a legal mechanism to fight back against infringement. You can send a DMCA takedown notice to platforms hosting the stolen content, and under U.S. law, they are required to remove it promptly or face legal risk themselves.

This works fairly well on U.S.-based platforms like Etsy or Redbubble, which have dedicated DMCA portals and legal departments.

But here’s the catch: DMCA only applies directly to U.S. companies.

When platforms are based overseas—or when the infringing sellers operate from outside the U.S.—your leverage is much weaker.

The Cross-Border Complication: Temu

Temu is operated by PDD Holdings, a company based in Dublin (for tax) but with deep operational roots in China, where many of its third-party sellers are located. While Temu now accepts DMCA notices through its U.S. website, most of the sellers uploading your stolen designs are not in the U.S. — and that matters.

Why? Because:

• U.S. copyright law doesn’t automatically apply in other countries.
  
  

• Enforcing U.S. judgments against foreign sellers is extremely difficult and often cost-prohibitive.
  
  

• Even if a listing is removed, another copy often pops up days later under a new username or store ID.
  
  

“The biggest challenge is enforcement. You can take one listing down, and another pops up a week later.”

Even when creators successfully submit takedowns, there’s no built-in alert system. You’re stuck manually monitoring marketplaces, trying to spot copies as they pop up again and again

Does International IP Law Help?

Sort of — but not enough.

Most countries (including China) are part of international copyright agreements like the Berne Convention, which means they recognize copyright from other countries, including the U.S.

But here’s the nuance:

• Recognition ≠ Enforcement.
  Just because your rights are recognized in China doesn’t mean they’ll be enforced. You’d still need to work with local legal counsel, and success is far from guaranteed.
  

• Platforms like Temu operate in legal gray areas, often shielding sellers behind layers of anonymity.
  

• The process of sending takedowns and filing lawsuits across borders is expensive, slow, and inaccessible to most independent artists.

  
  

Why Most Artists Give Up

Let’s be real. Most creators don’t have the legal resources to chase sellers across borders or file international cease-and-desist notices.

Even those who learn how to send DMCA takedowns often feel like they’re just plugging leaks in a sinking ship. Filing takedowns shouldn’t feel like a full-time job.

This isn’t just a matter of legal literacy — it’s a systemic failure. The law is technically on your side, but enforcement often isn’t.

So, What Can Be Done?

Enter: GuardMyArt

After watching what my mother went through and hearing from many artists facing the same problem, I decided sympathy wasn’t enough. We needed infrastructure. I decided to create GuardMyArt. Currently, it can generate DMCA Takedown notices.

We’re starting with tools that simplify the legal first steps and growing into a platform that makes protecting your work feel possible, not paralyzing