A quick (mani)cure for copyright infringement claim against Shein?

A British nail artist from Manchester claims that Shein, the fast fashion company, have copied the designs of her nail art and used images from her Instagram account on their website. Yan Tee’s nail art shows intricate designs that are tailored to her clients and carefully painted on by hand. Tee claims that Shein scanned her designs onto plastic stick on nails and are selling them cheaply on their website. 

Copyright protects original artistic works which include graphic works and photographs. For small businesses like Tee’s, pursuing a claim for infringement can be expensive and the impact of their creative works being copied and sold for a much lower price can be hugely detrimental. It is therefore extremely disappointing when a large company uses their designs without permission to do so. For a quick resolution, some designers turn to social media to draw attention to these infringing activities. From Shein’s point of view, they have commented that “its suppliers are required to certify that their products do not infringe on third-party IP”. This is paramount for businesses to ensure when they are working with suppliers and manufacturers. This is not the first time that Shein has found itself in the spotlight for allegations of copyright infringement and hopefully designers will have the confidence to come forward if they believe their work has been infringed.

A British nail artist has claimed that her designs have been stolen by fast fashion giant Shein.

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