Artist Tank wins battle with Chinese giant Temu to get copycat art removed from sale

Australian artist Tank has won his battle with Chinese online retail giant Temu to have a copycat design removed from sale.

The Shepparton artist has his own website and sells his design titled Complexity of Being for $275 as a small canvas print.

He was outraged when he discovered that two different sellers on the online shopping app had the design listed for less than $7, one of which had sold more than 500 copies of the stolen design.

Tank said he was thrilled with the outcome.

“I am really happy that we made some progress and actually got something removed,” Tank said.

There was no notification or communication from Temu that the design had been taken down.

“They didn’t tell me. I was looking it up again and saw it said that the product had been discontinued,” Tank said.

The success of having the design taken off Temu has given Tank the motivation to take on other sites that are selling his design without permission.

“I didn’t have confidence I would be able to do anything being a little artist from Australia.”

Community rallies behind artist

Temu is a Boston-based and Chinese-owned online marketplace that describes itself as connecting customers with “millions of sellers, manufacturers and brands around the world”.

Tank said he had been overwhelmed by support after he first spoke about having his designs stolen and copied on such a large scale.

“We’ve got good standards in Australia, we don’t like people stealing or ripping off people,” he said.

Tank said he would encourage other artists who find themselves in a similar position to fight to have stolen designs removed.

“Be outspoken about it, don’t sit idle and let it happen,” Tank said.

Temu has been contacted for a response.