'My artwork has been stolen'. The artists facing a fight against alleged internet fakes - BBC

'My artwork has been stolen'. The artists facing a fight against alleged internet fakes 1 hour ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Lili Busby BBC News NI Daisey Burke Kerrie McNeill makes art prints, greeting cards and stationery For many artists, the internet has transformed the way they do business, helping them reach new audiences and sell their work around the world. But the same technology is also making it easier for their creations to be copied, altered and sold without permission. An illustrator may spend weeks creating a new design only to discover a near-identical version listed for sale on an online marketplace thousands of miles away. That is exactly what happened to illustrator Kerrie McNeill when likely copies of her work began appearing on Temu. As the shock wore off, she said what remained was anger and frustration. "It makes it not enjoyable, constantly being on edge," she said. BBC News NI contacted Temu and they said they "do not permit unauthorised use of intellectual property" adding they are taking steps to remove the alleged copies of McNeill's work from their platform. On the left is McNeill's illustration and on the right is a card listed for sale on Temu For independent artists like McNeill, it is not just the artwork they feel has been allegedly stolen, but the income attached to it. She turns her colourful illustrations into art prints, greeting cards and stationery. A version of her pink Happy Birthday card, featuring colourful birthday cakes finished with gold foil, is listed for sale on Temu for 96p. The original sells for £3.60 on McNeill's own website. Placed side by side, the two cards are strikingly similar with only small details setting them apart. Experts say subtle changes like these have become increasingly common. While artwork can be copied in a number of ways, advances in image-editing technology, including AI tools, have made it quicker and easier to create altered versions of existing designs, making copies harder to spot. "If artwork is accessible then people think that it is theirs to take," McNeill said. "Because so many people think that it's okay to do, more people do it, and they just don't care." Another seemingly copied illustration from McNeill's work When McNeill first discovered alleged copies of her work on Temu, the company removed the listings after she reported them. But two years on, she said the effort of flagging and removing likely copycat products has become an exhausting cycle. The alleged fake illustrations continue to appear and each report can take time to complete. McNeill said some alleged copies appear to have been altered using AI, making them harder to identify. "It's just unfair," she said. "I don't think that it should be my job to take down all these listings of my own artwork that has been stolen." 'It ruins the whole art piece' Hal Bradley The original and alleged fake of Terry Bradley's 'Forget me Not' paintings Terry Bradley's paintings are instantly recognisable to many people across Northern Ireland. His contemporary paintings of Belfast dock workers and female figures have earned him an international following, but that popularity has also made them a target for counterfeit sellers. His son, Hal Bradley, creative director at Terry Bradley Art, said alleged reproductions of his father's paintings regularly appear for sale online, on various different platforms. Temu is not one of them. One of his paintings even turned up hanging on the wall of a bar in Thailand. "Terry's put so much time into these pieces," he said. "When somebody shows us a botched reproduction of his painting, it kills that for him." Hal Bradley Hal Bradley (right) said counterfeits are "frustrating" for his artist dad, Terry Bradley (left) Hal said the family regularly spots likely copies in people's homes and for sale online. "It's not just that it's fake," he said. "It's also that it's attributed to our paintings. It ruins the whole art piece." Bradley's career began long before online marketplaces became a major outlet for counterfeit goods. To help distinguish genuine work, every original painting is now embossed, signed and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Like McNeill, Hal said reporting individual listings can be frustrating. "The people doing it are breaking the law," he said. "It seems that if we don't do every little thing to remove individual listings, they are just allowed to do it." Technology outpacing the law Cyber security expert Kevin Curran said technology has moved much faster than the laws designed to protect creators. "Legislation is lagging far behind," he said. For many artists, pursuing legal action is unrealistic because cases can take years and cost thousands of pounds, particularly when sellers are based overseas or operate anonymously. "The sheer scale is very hard for owners," he said. "You're faced with a future where you won't be able to claim for your original artwork anymore." Screenshot Temu's online intellectual property infringement report portal Suspected infringements Online marketplaces, including Temu, have systems allowing copyright holders to report suspected infringements. In October, following pressure from the Greeting Card Association (GCA), Temu introduced a bespoke takedown process for greeting card publishers. Previously, companies had to report every individual listing. Under the trial, they now submit one link, allowing software to identify and remove other listings using the same design, preventing identical copies from simply being re-uploaded. In relation to McNeill's illustrations, Temu added that their sellers are "required to comply with applicable laws and Temu's policies as a condition of operating on the marketplace". "Regarding the artist mentioned, we are reviewing the identified listings and are in the process of removing them. "At the same time, we are adding Kerrie McNeill's works to our IP database for ongoing proactive monitoring to help prevent them from being listed again by bad actors." Temu stressed that to protect rights holders, Temu uses a combination of automated detection and manual review systems, currently scanning more than 47 million images and more than 9.5m million keywords. Card designer still finding rip-offs on Temu Temu agrees to remove rip-off greeting cards from its site more quickly Designer 'exhausted' by battle over images on Temu Temu Facebook Northern Ireland Copyright