When an Etsy seller learned that a large retailer was selling products that looked an awful lot like her own handmade designs, she decided to fight for her copyright—and won.
Savannah Carroll, whose Etsy shop Sleepy King features her woodland creature designs on plush toys, embroidered art and accessories, learned of the infringement from a fan in Norway. The fan emailed to let her know that Lindex, a Swedish fashion chain, was selling baby garments that used her popular fox and rabbit characters.
She blogged about it on Monday, asking for donations to help defray her legal costs, and the matter quickly caught fire on Facebook. Supporters shared the story with friends and followers through social networks, and many alerted news media and emailed Lindex to complain.
“We protect the right of the designers and, therefore, these products will be removed from our stores while we investigate this”Today, Lindex says it removed the items from its website and its chain of 400 stores, and has apologized to the seller.
“We protect the right of the designers and, therefore, these products will be removed from our stores while we investigate this,” Lindex notes on its Facebook page. “We are in contact with the designer for Sleepy King, and are having a direct dialogue with her.”
“The power of social media is on my side,” Carroll says. “Lindex has removed the fox onesie and the booties (they haven’t removed the other items that closely resemble my work). They said they want to come to some sort of an agreement over the next few days in order to keep selling the fox items. Let’s see if they keep their word!”
Carroll notes that she will use the donations she received to obtain a cease-and-desist letter, in case this ever happens again.