Did you know that the American Dream is being stolen from all Americans? From patent holders to the everyday artist and yes, even from you. Here is a true story that helps illustrate that.
We’ve all heard the stories of rampant counterfeiting coming from Communist China. A lot of people seem to say “Eh, it’s not that bad. They’re just selling over priced NFL goods at a fair price, unlike the NFL. Or they’re just as good as the real Nike shoes (at least until the heel falls off a month later)”. Most people don’t realize that it’s not just big businesses that they are stealing from. It’s the Mom and Pops, the small businesses, in fact, it’s almost every sector of the American economy.
We all know that Communist China steals from all big boys like Boeing, Apple, Nike, and even the US Government. Did you know they would steal the blanket off your baby if it wasn’t cheaper for them to make it than take it? Now some of you might think that’s harsh but when you’re done reading this I’m hoping you’ll see what I mean.
I am a professional large format artist. I create large pieces of art for hand-drawn murals, wraps on vehicles, and all sorts of large applications. My pieces take on average 100 to 1000 hours to complete. I have one mural that I spent almost 5000 hours on. (That’s over a years worth of work if you want to do the math). Once my pieces are finished I apply for a U.S. copyright. Once I receive the copyright, I print and sell the pieces on online venues.
Communist China has been a major problem for me for many years but it really ramped up during the past 3 years. Every year it gets worse. China does not respect U.S. Trademarks, Patents, and Copyrights. They create counterfeit goods and ship them around the world. As of a few years ago I banned purchases from China on my online venues because they were buying my copyrighted artwork and then scanning them so they could sell copies. They were printing and listing MY artwork and then competing with me on Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, Wish and other online selling sites. They’re competing with me using MY artwork. They’re not making their own artistic renditions and interpretations of my artwork as allowed under copyright law. They’re just using my actual copyrighted artwork. Then, because of their cheap labor and their subsidized shipping deals with the U.S., they’re selling my artwork cheaper than I can. (The cheap shipping deals they have with the U.S. is a whole ‘nother story I’ll get into later!)
These Communist China online vendors are like honey badgers. By that I mean they’re relentless- no fear, no shame, they just take what they want when they want it. I constantly have to go through these e-commerce stores and petition the companies like Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, etc, to take these copies down. It’s very time consuming and Ebay especially drags their feet and resists taking them down (see actual emails). On Ebay every time I get one taken down, they just put it back up on another account. At Amazon, where they have my Copyrights and Trademark on file, they usually remove the forgeries in less than an hour but I still have to go to the trouble of searching for my artwork and then petitioning them each time a counterfeit copy pops up.
I’ve watched the Chinese vendors sell literally thousands of pieces of their counterfeit copies of my artwork. At the bottom of the page is a list of stores I found from just March and April of 2020. These are Communist China Ebay stores that we that I have busted and petitioned Ebay to remove my artwork from their Ebay stores. These are counterfeit copies of my copyrighted products and they are selling them for less than what I can even make them for. They are not abiding by U.S. copyright and trademark laws even though they’re selling here in the U.S. If you have ever filed for a trademark or copyright you know that it can get expensive and the point is to protect what you worked so hard to make.
I’ve made a list below of the stores I found just on Ebay alone that were copying my artwork. I’m only listing the ones where I personally found my artwork and petitioned Ebay to have those listings removed. Remember, this is just what I found in 2 months. And I’m sure I am not finding everything, there are too many products listed for me to search each one. And half the time I get one taken down, it’s suddenly listed on another Chinese Ebay vendor’s store! It would appear that these Chinese vendors are running more than one store so they can keep selling stolen artwork. It’s like playing Whack-a-Mole!
Theft of the American Dream – Boycott China Now
China Owned Ebay Stores Below
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