SO YOUR ART’S BEEN STOLEN AND PUT ON TEECHIP

You spend hours on a design. You slap it on tumblr. It gets lots of likes and reblogs. Two weeks later, some shitlord steals it and uploads it to Teechip or some similar cesspool and makes hundreds of dollars. You throw a fit, you start a flamewar, you get nowhere. That’s because you’re dealing with greedy enablers who don’t care about you. They don’t, and they won’t. Ever. You’re dealing with a company whose BBB rating has zero positive reviews and whose twitter feed is 99% boilerplate infringement replies to defrauded artists. Their business model is largely funded by turning a blind eye to the black market they cultivate. And they will do the absolute minimum to protect you against their own financial interests. So here’s what I’ve learned from dealing with these useless assholes.

1. The infringing parties follow a pattern.

If you’re dealing with some generic idiot, you might try contacting them via message or comment first. However, most of these guys are part of a well crafted abuse system. You usually spot them in a Facebook fan group. The biggest warning flag is text that resembles this:

[insert name here] - Just Released - Available with Tshirts and Hoodies
Get it here => [insert link here]
Not sold in stores - Tag your friends who love it.

This account probably belongs to some shady offshore bank account that would piss on your parents’ graves if it got them another buck, so don’t bother trying. Facebook is very responsive to takedowns, just report the page and follow the links to their copyright infringement form. Easy peasy.

The next thing to note is the timeframe of the campaign. Seasoned infringers set up automatically repeating 24-hour campaigns so that, by the time you’ve noticed the infringement, the damage is already done. Teechip’s max DMCA response time is 24 hours, and their minimum campaign time is also 24 hours. Criminals use this to their advantage. Teechip knows this. They don’t care. So….

2. Don’t take it personally.

They don’t see you as a person. They will go out of their way to service their soulless, thieving sellers, but the best you’ll get from them is a week-long runaround while they rake in illegal payments without incurring any liability.

We artists are often temperamental. It’s OK to be angry and to even fly off the handle. But no matter how much energy you expend arguing with Teechip, they will not budge without you taking the proper steps. So take a deep breath, pretend you’re a cool, silicon-based being of pure and absolute logic, and read on.

3. You have to deal with this their way or not at all.

DO NOT immediately engage Teechip on social media. It will feel good, but it is useless venting and you won’t get anywhere.

DO NOT send your friends, fans, and family on an email crusade. Teechip will respond to some or all of those emails with a form letter and then wipe their hands of culpability.

INSTEAD:

*** You must send one concise, properly written DMCA takedown email to copyright@teechip.com ***

Here is the format I used, which was for a piece of fan art that I created:

My name is [insert full name]. A campaign that your company hosts is infringing on a specific piece of artwork that I created.

The original artwork [add a creation date if you have one, you want to establish a timeline] can be found here:

[insert link to your original work, or say “see attached” and include attachment]

The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at:

[insert link to infringing work]

This letter is official notification under Section 512( c ) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your website. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that my rights are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.

[insert your full name]
[insert your mailing address]
[insert your phone number]
[insert your email address]

It is ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NECESSARY to do it as close to this as possible (it may need modification if you are acting on behalf of a company). Do not leave off any of the contact info. If something essential isn’t in there, you’re gonna have to do it all over. They won’t take a DMCA notice in two parts. Remember, you are a being of pure, cool, unmovable logic right now. Do it this way, and only this way.

*** Take note of the opening phrase “infringing on a specific piece of artwork that I created”. If you are fighting the theft of your fan art, you must never claim copyright over an IP that doesn’t belong to you, accidentally or otherwise. As a fan artist, you’re already on thin ice, and Fair Use may or may not protect you from a counter-DMCA; so unless that’s your original IP, make sure you only claim copyright over your specific piece of artwork. ***

Teechip will respond to a properly written DMCA sent to their copyright address in 24 hours. You can escalate it by calling them on the phone. If they don’t take the infringing campaign down within 24 hours of your 100% properly formatted DMCA email, THEN you can consider additional legal action. If they do take it down in time, you might still be entitled to damages from the seller – ask a lawyer before making any demands of Teechip, though. I can’t advise you further on this matter.

TIP: If, like me, you fear for your privacy, rent a PO box. They’re usually not prohibitively expensive.