Aussie artist slams Temu for $14 “stolen” blanket design that would cost her $60 to make

An Australian visual artist has issued a rallying call on Instagram for consumers to back small design businesses, after she discovered e-commerce giant Temu was selling items that look identical to her designs, for a fraction of the price. 

In a viral Instagram reel, Melbourne-based Kelsie Cosmic shared how she discovered the apparent copycat items after seeing a festival goer in a shirt and shorts set, featuring colourful illustrations of mushrooms. 

When Kelsie searched the Temu website, a blanket in the same psychedelic pop art-inspired design also appeared in search results. 

“So they’re not only selling my print on the shirt and shorts combo, but they’re also selling it as a blanket,” she told her more than 45,000 followers.

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A post shared by ✨ Kelsie Cosmic ✨ (@kelsiecosmic)

Kelsie goes on to explain that the blanket listed on Temu was priced at $14, whereas it previously cost her approximately $60 to make her own blankets, excluding GST and shipping costs. According to Kelsie, the Temu listing indicated that 16,000 of the items had been sold. 

“It’s just so hard to compete with a company like that and it is really sad that once again my art has been stolen by a huge corporation,” she said. 

The reel has had more than 64,000 likes and 4,700 comments, including many from other illustrators and artists who said they’ve had similar experiences.

“Horrific. So many small businesses being robbed,” wrote one small business. 

“They’ve done the same to me! … More people need to be aware of this,” said another artist. 

The video ends with Kelsie urging shoppers to consider where they are spending their money. 

“So if you guys can help me get the word out, share this video and just help small artists stop their art from getting their stolen because it is getting really ridiculous.”

SmartCompany understands the items in question are no longer available for sale from the Chinese-owned Temu platform, which acts as a marketplace for third-party sellers and has operated an Australian storefront since March. 

SmartCompany has also been unable to find the items through an independent search of the Temu Australia website. The retailer declined to comment when contacted by SmartCompany. 

SmartCompany has also contacted Kelsie Cosmic for further comments.

Long history of smaller brands being ‘inspiration’ for big players

This is far from the first instance of local artists and small business owners discovering what they say are copies of their products from larger retailers, both here in Australia and abroad. 

Back in 2015, SmartCompany reported on a slew of these allegations levelled at the likes of Target and Kmart. 

More recently, Byron Bay-based Wandering Folk alleged discount supermarket chain Aldi had copied its picnic rugs in early 2022 and in August this year, Victorian artist Tank was reportedly successful in getting copies of his artworks removed from Temu. 

It is a challenging area to navigate for small businesses, according to John MacPhail, commercial lawyer and partner at Lynch Meyer, who previously spoke to SmartCompany about the Wandering Folk case. 

There is not always a straightforward way to resolve such complaints, said MacPhail, particularly in cases where it appears a larger business has taken ‘inspiration’ from smaller designers. 

MacPhail said business owners can register designs and thereby secure 10 years of protection covering the ‘visual features’ of an original article or product, however, this process can be cumbersome and expensive and often involves seeking professional help. And it’s no guarantee against ‘inspiration’.

It can also be challenging to argue a legal case in these instances, said MacPhail, as many creatives are inspired by other creatives, at some point.

“Most of the time with these cases, when you dig down, actually everyone stands on the shoulders of giants,” he said.

In its official intellectual property policy, Temu says that while it is “not actively involved” in individual products listings in its marketplace, it is “committed to protecting everyone’s intellectual property rights and have a strict policy against the listing or sale of products that violates a third-party’s intellectual property rights”.

“We strive to respond quickly by removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material when we receive a report of intellectual property infringement that complies with this intellectual property policy and applicable law.”

Temu also advises individuals to contact the company via this webpage if they wish to lodge a complaint about infringing items.