Artist Michael Whelan is calling out the Etsy store The Geek Find for shameless copyright abuse.
A month ago Whelan’s Tumblr helped highlight that the Etsy store for apparently re-printing and selling other artist’s work – including chopping the signature off the print.
Whelan’s account noted that Etsy required the original owners to step forward with complaints;
I asked the legal department at Etsy to review the seller after they removed products violating Michael Whelan’s copyright because the seller was clearly stealing from many artists. Etsy said they needed IP owners (or their agents) to file separately.
This is pretty typical, shifting the burden to the offended parties. You’d think a comprehensive review of the seller would be part of every complaint that leads to product removal.
https://www.etsy.com/legal/ip/report
As of today the Etsy store is still in full swing.
Fans can get legit copies of Michael Whelan’s art through his online store here for reasonable prices.
