When a Bestseller Becomes a Target

My mother’s best-selling artwork was something we celebrated — until we saw it being sold on Temu for less than five dollars. At first, we thought it was a one-off case of intellectual property theft.

But the deeper I looked, the more familiar stories I found.

Across the world, independent artists have faced the same shock: their most successful designs — their “bestsellers” — cloned and sold by strangers on ultra-cheap platforms like Temu, Shein, and others. These mass-market sites profit off stolen art, leaving creators powerless to protect what’s theirs.

This isn’t just an isolated issue. It’s a systemic crisis of digital art theft, and it’s happening faster and more widely than most people realize.

In this post, I’ll share the evidence I gathered — direct comparisons of copied products and stories from other artists who’ve had their creative success twisted into commercial theft.

Patterns of Theft — Hiding in Plain Sight

In a matter of hours, I found multiple examples of other independent artists whose work appeared to be blatantly copied and listed on Temu — often at a fraction of the original price.

Let’s take a closer look:

Top: A monkey-in-garden design listed for $4.77 on Temu mirrors a pillow sold for $29.19 on RedBubble by SophieClimaArt, a UK-based illustrator.

Middle: A set of botanical tiger pillows for $4.42 on Temu looks identical to a jungle-themed illustration by Amber Davenport, also on RedBubble.

Bottom: A pink cheetah design on a hand towel for $4.17 on Temu is a clear match to a $29.00 print on Etsy by BeachHouseGallery.

Each of these products appears to reproduce original artwork without permission. The similarities aren’t just suspicious — they’re striking. And sadly, they’re not rare.

Real Artists, Real Losses

Here are just a few of the stories that stood out:

Leora Aileen — The Reader Tote Bag

Netherlands | Original: €13.99 | Temu Copy: < €6 | Units Sold: 200+

Leora creates literary-inspired accessories. Her most popular item — a tarot-themed tote bag — was suddenly spotted on Temu and Shein. It was her exact design, mass-sold without credit.

“I felt worthless and powerless… You work so hard for every single sale. And then somebody just lifts your design off a photo.”

— Leora Aileen, Time Magazine, 2024

Lauren Sissons — Alphabet Print

Australia | Original: $25 | Temu Copy: $4 | Units Sold: 800+

Lauren’s alphabet print was a labor of love. Created over 50+ hours while raising her children, it became a top seller in her shop — until she found it being sold for $4 on Temu.

“Seeing art that you have poured your heart into stolen and mass produced is heartbreaking. It feels like a violation.”

“Only you know how much work went into one design, and it feels like a violation… Someone is trawling the internet looking for art to steal for their own gain.”

— Lauren Sissons, news.com.au, 2024

Her story went viral because it resonated with so many other creators experiencing the same thing.

Why This Hurts More Than Just Business

The economic losses are real — but for many artists, it’s the emotional toll that hits hardest.

“It is the worst feeling as a small business owner and artist… to pour your heart into original designs and see them literally stolen and reproduced.”

— Lauren Sissons, via TikTok

What’s worse: artists often don’t find out their work has been stolen until a fan, customer, or friend alerts them. By the time they see it, hundreds of copies have already been sold.

What Makes Temu Different — and a Challenge for Creators

Temu offers a wide range of low-cost products from third-party sellers, which makes the platform appealing to budget-conscious consumers. But this scale and speed also create gaps when it comes to protecting original artwork.

Because listings are created by independent vendors, designs that closely resemble — or even directly copy — independent artists’ work can appear and remain online without notice. For artists, reporting these infringements through tools like DMCA takedown notices is often time-consuming, especially when sellers are based overseas.

While it’s unclear how closely platforms like Temu monitor intellectual property violations, creators often feel left to navigate the problem alone. And that points to a larger issue in the digital marketplace:

Who’s responsible for protecting creativity in a system built for speed and scale?

Why We Need to Act

When platforms like Temu ignore artist protections:

• Creators lose their income and control
  
  

• Shoppers are misled, unknowingly buying counterfeits
  
  

• Trust in online platforms collapses, especially for indie artists
  
  

• Originality suffers, as creators hesitate to share their work
  
  

This can’t keep happening. The digital marketplace must evolve to protect creativity, not exploit it.

It’s not just about profits. It’s about fairness, respect, and the right to control what you create.