Temu Pledges Faster Removal of Copyrighted Greeting Card Designs

Sat Oct 25 2025 09:23:16 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Online retailer Temu has committed to a quicker process for removing counterfeit greeting cards from its platform, following pressure from the greeting card industry and reports of widespread copyright infringement.

Temu, the online shopping giant, has taken steps to expedite the removal of pirated greeting card designs from its site after facing backlash from the greeting card industry. Designers reported significant losses due to unauthorized copies of their work. The new system will use AI technology to protect original designs and block counterfeit listings more efficiently, a move welcomed by industry leaders.

Online shopping giant Temu has agreed to work with the greeting card industry to remove copied designs from its site more quickly.

Card firms say hundreds of their copyrighted images have been used to create cheap rip-offs, costing them thousands of pounds in lost sales.

Designers told the BBC the process for getting the plagiarised listings removed has been like the fairground game 'whack-a-mole' with copied products re-appearing within days.

Temu said protecting intellectual property was a top priority and that it was encouraging sellers to join the trial of a new takedown process specifically for the greetings card industry.

Amanda Mountain, the co-founder of York-based Lola Design, discovered the catalogue of designs she had built up over a decade had nearly all been copied.

She found the images she had created had been lifted and were being advertised by other sellers on cards and other products like t-shirts.

Amanda bought one of the cards using her design and found the image was distorted and the paper was of a poorer quality than hers.

It's not a nice feeling to see something you've poured all your love and hours into taken within minutes, she told the BBC. I was in shock, and I actually thought to myself 'what is the point of me still designing, I might as well just stop now.'

The emotional toll and the time taken to get copycat products removed were significant challenges for Amanda and her partner Frank, who estimate that fraudulent versions of their products have led to £100,000 in sales loss.

After pressure from the Greeting Card Association (GCA), Temu has now implemented a bespoke takedown process that will expedite the removal of stolen designs and prevent their re-uploading.

In the revised system, card firms will only need to submit one link for each design, allowing for automatic removals of multiple listings at once. This new trial signifies Temu’s commitment to intellectual property protection, as they expressed that most copyright takedown requests are now resolved within three days.

GCA's chief executive Amanda Fergusson welcomed the changes, stating they reflect the strong sentiments of members against copycat sellers, while Amanda and Frank emphasized the widespread implications for the industry.

At some point, it's going to be the consumers that are going to be affected, not just us as designers, because there won't be any high streets, Amanda articulated, warning that cheap always comes at a cost.