232
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of the day I would put on a European pillow sham and make cole slaw.
Last week, I told you about an Etsy seller who was tracing one of Jess Fink’s T-shirt designs, and selling it on Etsy as her own creation.
Tens of thousands of you responded by reporting her to Etsy for copyright infringement. By the next morning, her banner and profile had been changed, and her store emptied!
But not by Etsy.
The seller voluntarily closed up shop.
Instead, Etsy did this:
From: Etsy Outreach
Date: March 20, 2011 15:55:31 PDT
To: (REMOVED)
Subject: An Important Message from EtsyThank you for being a vibrant member of the Etsy Community. We are delighted that our Members help us keep Etsy’s integrity in tact by Flagging items that do not meet our criteria.
Unfortunately, Flags are not the appropriate way to report Copyright Infringement or other Intellectual Property issues on Etsy.
Check out the links below for more information on Etsy’s Copyright and Intellectual Property policy, the procedure for reporting it, and some FAQs and articles on this subject.
DMCA (Etsy’s Copyright Policy)
Copyright FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions about Copyright)
In the future, please do not use Etsy’s Flagging system to report these concerns. Thank you again for being a part of the Etsy Community!
Best,
Etsy’s Support Team
OMG, you guys are so vibrant! Too bad you don’t know how to use the right forms. That would be super helpful to Etsy staff, because they’re really busy tweeting about Earl Grey tea.
The great irony here is that Jess Fink is also an Etsy seller. And if there’s one thing Etsy is really rabid about enforcing, it’s being nice to each other. Any post in the forums taking another seller to task – even a reseller – gets you shut down in a heartbeat. In fact, I know people who have been muted for weeks because of calling someone on the carpet and making them accountable.
If only you had flagged her for being a meanie. You probably would have gotten a cupcake.
