Bristol artist’s anger at finding work on site without permission

An artist has said it felt “infuriating” to discover “hundreds” of items featuring her work for sale on an online marketplace without her permission.

Jenny Urquhart, 49, from Bristol, decided to visit Temu after reading a recent BBC report about card firms complaining about rip-off greeting cards being available for sale on the website.

She said she found “pages and pages” of items using her designs, including men’s underwear, cushions and car mats. “You think of a gift item and I’d find one of my images printed on it,” added Mrs Urquhart.

A spokesperson for Temu said the company had immediately removed the listings in question when it was made aware of the situation.

Founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2022 but owned by Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, Temu describes itself on its website as “honest, ethical and trustworthy”, offering low prices by shipping products direct from factories to consumers.

In April 2024, the BBC reported on a number of complaints against the company including one from a Kent-based illustrator who found copies of her designs on the site.

Mrs Urquhart said she had been prompted to look for unauthorised copies of her own work after reading that the company had agreed to work with the greeting card industry to remove copies from its site.

After speaking about her case on BBC Breakfast, Mrs Urquhart said the majority of items featuring her work no longer appear on the website.

“It’s really hard at the moment to make money out of art because quite rightly buying art comes well below obviously, paying the mortgage, buying food, paying the bills,” she said.

“At the moment we’re really struggling. As soon as I get an order on my website I’m overjoyed – every single sale counts.

“To think there’s some multi-million pound business on the other side of the world just flogging your stuff. It’s completely out of your control and infuriating.”

A Temu spokesperson said the company had “immediately reviewed and removed” the listings when they were notified of them last week.

“Temu takes intellectual property rights seriously and requires all third-party sellers to comply with applicable laws and platform policies,” they said.

“We act promptly to remove infringing content once identified.”