Intellectual Property disputes such as Copyright Infringement continue to plague Sellers on Amazon. This often leads to interruptions in sales performance by way of ASIN and Account Suspensions. Taking a moment to educate yourself on some of the most common issues affecting sellers can save you time, headaches and most importantly money.
What is Copyright Infringement?
The U.S Copyright Office defines Copyright Infringement “As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.”
So how can this affect Amazon Sellers? Copyright Infringement on Amazon can come in many forms. Listing a new product on Amazon and pulling the image from Google or another site without permission. Selling reprints of an original work of art without permission or taking that art and putting it on say a coffee mug. Books of course have caused many a sellers account to go down. However, I’ll need an entire article to do that subject justice. Stay tuned!
The Most Common Cause of Copyright Infringement on Amazon
So what notification do we see more often than not when it comes to Copyright Infringement on Amazon? If you guessed t-shirts, you are correct. I’m going to put this plainly, you can’t put Superman’s shield on a t-shirt and sell it, you just can’t.
This of course is not a complaint we commonly see, although we do see it from time to time. More often than not it’s the newest trending show on Netflix that everyone’s talking about. An entrepreneur will act quickly to cease the opportunity releasing new designs as quickly as possible to capture the market. Only to cross the line and end up with a complaint, a suspended ASIN and if they are unlucky (or repeat offenders) a suspended account.
Avoiding Copyright Infringement on Amazon
One of the most practical ways to avoid these complaints would be to always use original works. If you are creating a new listing for your product be sure to take all original images yourself. You can of course hire a photographer to take professional images of your products. However, you want to be sure to have a contract showing the images were a work made for hire and you are the author.
If you are using content that is licensed to you, be sure you are authorized to sell on Amazon or other ecommerce sites. Additionally you may want to ensure this is clearly stated in the contract. Communication is key in these situations. If the licensee of the brand does not wish for you to sell on sites such as Amazon, its best to stay off. Should you try to sell on the sites without their permission, you will have no argument for reinstatement when Amazon suspends your listing.
If you found this article helpful be sure to follow up with us as we discuss Related Accounts on Amazon.
As Always, It Never Hurts To Ask For Help
Have you received an Amazon Account Suspension or Notification? We here at Amazon Account Rescue are here to discuss these matters with you.
Should you have any additional questions or wish to discuss this or any other matter please feel free to contact us at 1-800-757-0282 or at info@amazonaccountrescue.com.