New Zealand artists are being urged to monitor Temu, a major online shopping platform, to ensure their work is not being copied and sold without permission.
A replica of Giselle Clarkson’s “Fish Species of New Zealand” poster was found on Temu for $7.44, undercutting its $59 price at the endemicworld gallery in Ponsonby.
Elliot Alexander, owner of endemicworld, said it is important for buyers to ensure they purchase art from authentic and reputable sellers.
“We know New Zealanders love a bargain, and Temu is the most common online shop anyone shops from,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ben Cain from the law firm James & Wells noted that the issue of New Zealand artists having their work copied is not a new phenomenon. He said, “Perhaps it’s a wider scope of opportunity; it seems there’s nothing Temu won’t sell. Whether there’s more of it, I don’t know.”
Cain advised copyright holders to remain vigilant regarding their artwork on platforms like Temu.
He also remarked that Temu has a mechanism for reporting intellectual property violations. However, he acknowledged the challenge of preventing repeated listings of copied works under different names on such sites.
“The challenge then is, is the supplier of that current artwork going to list it again under a new listing with the same name or under a different name with the same picture? That’s the challenge you’ve got with sites like this and Alibaba; you can be successful in getting one page taken down only to have it pop up somewhere else under a different name,” Cain said.
“I would encourage the copyright owner in this sense to contact Temu using their IP portal” or submit a border protection notice to Customs, which will record the information in their system. This allows Customs to flag any attempts to import the posters on a commercial scale.
Temu, launched in 2022 by Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo (now PDD Holdings), builds on its parent company’s success in China by offering deeply discounted products directly from manufacturers to consumers, primarily targeting budget-conscious buyers.
As of early 2025, Temu boasts approximately 292 million monthly active users globally, up from 167 million monthly active users in the first quarter of the previous year.