{"id":288,"date":"2026-05-19T06:04:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T06:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=288"},"modified":"2026-05-19T06:04:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T06:04:45","slug":"buyers-beware-copyright-concerns-on-the-rise-for-hawaii-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=288","title":{"rendered":"Buyers beware: Copyright concerns on the rise for Hawaii artists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii artists are calling out retail websites that are using their work without prior approval. Through this, they also hope consumers will pay more attention to where their products are coming from.<\/p>\n

Read more Holy Ghost Feast celebrates 133 years on Maui<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully I have customers who will send me a screenshot and they be like, \u2018Hey sis, isn\u2019t this your stuff?\u2019\u201d JT Ojerio, artist and founder of the brand Aloha De Mele, said.<\/p>\n

Oftentimes, she and other artists will find their designs on sites like Temu and Alibaba printed on blankets, shower curtains, pillows, and even sold as templates for others to use \u2014 all without their approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s gotten worse recently. I hate to say it, but the brand Hawaii is very marketable and it\u2019s kind of scary. I mean, I\u2019ll go on Temu and I\u2019ll go on Alibaba and I\u2019ll type in Hawaiian lei and I\u2019m just so scared to see what pops up,\u201d Ojerio said.<\/p>\n

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She has fallen victim to copyright infringement before, and also alerts other artists when she suspects their work is being ripped off too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re never happy and … they try to joke, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s a rite of passage,\u2019 but it really sucks. We put so much work into it and you know we always go in with intention,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ojerio encourages other artists to copyright their works, and report unauthorized products to the websites and platforms advertising them.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, a company spokesperson said:<\/p>\n

\u201cTemu does not allow the use of unauthorised [sic]<\/i> intellectual property on our platform. Listings that violate these standards are promptly removed, and enforcement actions are taken against the responsible sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continued, \u201cTo protect rights holders, we employ a combination of automated detection and manual review systems, currently scanning over 38 million images and more than nine million keywords.\u201d<\/p>\n

Temu confirmed that for two artists we pointed out to them, product listings were reviewed, removed, and their artwork was added to an IP protection database. <\/p>\n

Ojerio said in her experience, making a copyright claim on Temu has been easier than getting pieces removed from Alibaba. In the end, Ojerio hopes consumers will be more mindful of the sellers they\u2019re buying from.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe love as a community love supporting local. So even if it just takes a few minutes or seconds to do your homework of where this is coming from, that would really help a lot of small businesses in the long run,\u201d Ojerio said. <\/p>\n

Alibaba did not respond to our request for comment, but Ojerio described some of the past challenges she\u2019s faced with them, regarding international copyright laws, which can be complicated and costly.<\/p>\n

Read more Crisis teams use new law to get mentally ill homeless into treatment on Oahu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artists will find their designs on sites like Temu and Alibaba, printed on blankets, pillows, and even sold as templates \u2014 all without their approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBuyers beware: Copyright concerns on the rise for Hawaii artists - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=288\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buyers beware: Copyright concerns on the rise for Hawaii artists - 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