Knowledge Base: Copyright, Trademarks and RedBubble

Respecting the rights of others (copyright, trademark and other matters)

Respecting and recognising the rights of others is important to RedBubble. You wouldn’t want someone to sell your art as their own, and we ask that you don’t do it to others. Aside from the legal issues, respect and recognition of other artists help define and support the RedBubble community.

Copyright protects the expression of an idea in a material form. Most relevant to RedBubble users is that copyright protects such things as stories, poems and other literary works. It also protects artistic works, including photos, paintings and logos. Trade marks are slightly different. They protect the use of a mark in designating the trade source of particular goods and services. There are several international treaties that relate to intellectual property, but that’s not to say that laws are uniform across the world.

With that in mind, generally speaking, if someone has created or owns the rights to a picture, painting, logo, story, poem or any other work (regardless of whether it’s an individual or a large global company), you should obtain consent before you use that work in your own work. This will help ensure that you don’t infringe the rights of that third party in creating, uploading and selling your art on RedBubble and you continue to foster a supportive and creative environment at RedBubble. You take full responsibility for the works you upload and display on RedBubble, and this is reflected in the RedBubble Terms of Service which you agree to comply with in order to use the RedBubble service.

The issue of “fair use” is often raised with us in the context of RedBubble. Fair use describes various ways in which copyrights may be exercised without the permission of the owner. It typically applies in limited circumstances, including parody, and isn’t the same as “freedom of speech”. Unfortunately, as with copyright in general, the scope of “fair use” is different in different countries, and therefore any general rules quickly become complicated. It’s also important to note that “fair use” generally does not apply to trademarks and other rights, which have their own rules and exceptions. While some uses might appear “fair”, we ask that you understand that RedBubble must act in consideration of all factors.

Here is some more information:
Australia
United States
United Kingdom
General

Complaints process

RedBubble respects the intellectual property rights of others and we asks our users to do the same. RedBubble may suspend or terminate users who in our opinion infringe the copyright or other rights of others.

If you come across any material on RedBubble that you think could infringe copyright or trademark laws please use the 'report a concern' link that appears on the same page as the material in question (see below for an example). This link will step you through the process by which you can inform RedBubble of your concern.