Your Product Photos Copied on Chinese Marketplaces: Copyright, Trademark or Design?
A frequent complaint from brands that sell online: their product photos turn up in listings on Alibaba, AliExpress, Taobao or 1688, sometimes next to copies of the product itself. Before filing a complaint, it helps to separate three different problems, because each one is handled by a different right: someone using your photos, someone using your brand, and someone selling a product that looks like yours. This guide explains which right covers what in China and what evidence platforms usually ask for. It is general information; platform rules and the facts of each case decide the outcome.
Three problems, three rights
- Your photos are used: copyright. It covers the photos, videos and product descriptions you created, not the product.
- Your brand name or logo is used: trademark. A complaint on a Chinese marketplace normally needs a trademark registered in China.
- The product looks like yours: design patent for the appearance; utility model or invention patent for technical features. Without a Chinese registration, the product itself usually cannot be stopped.
A listing often involves more than one. A seller who copies your product and reshoots it with new photos is out of reach of copyright; a seller who uses your photos for a different product can be reached by copyright alone.
Copyright in China does not need registration
China is a member of the Berne Convention. Copyright arises when a work is created, and foreign works are protected without registration. What you do need is proof that you own the photos:
- original files in camera raw format, with shooting dates and device data;
- other frames from the same shoot, the photographer's contract and payment records;
- your earliest publication, such as dated listings, your website or social media posts.
If a photographer took the photos, check the contract. Under Chinese law, copyright in a commissioned work belongs to the photographer unless the contract says otherwise; elsewhere the rules differ. Make sure the contract gives you the copyright or at least the right to enforce it.
A voluntary copyright registration in China is optional but practical. The certificate is accepted as preliminary proof of ownership by courts and is convenient for platform complaints, especially for photos you expect to be copied repeatedly.
How a platform complaint works
Chinese platforms follow the notice-and-takedown rules of the E-Commerce Law. You submit a notice with proof of your right and the infringing links; the platform removes or disables them and forwards the notice to the seller. The seller can file a counter-notice; if you do not file a complaint with the authorities or a lawsuit within 15 days after receiving it, the listing can come back. A notice must be accurate: wrongful notices that cause loss create liability. See taking down counterfeits on Chinese marketplaces for the trademark side and the counter-notice rules.
What to prepare before you need it
- Keep originals of all product photos and videos, with an index of where and when each was first published.
- Register your brand in China, in Latin letters and any Chinese version; see what a clearance search covers.
- File a Chinese design patent for products that sell on their appearance, before the design is public.
- Register copyright in your main product images if they are copied often.
- When a copy appears, capture the listing with date and URL before you complain; see what to do when your factory is selling your design.
Frequently asked questions
The copier used our photos but changed the background. Is it still infringement? Often yes, if the substantial part of the photo is taken. Small edits do not create a new work. The outcome depends on how much of the original is recognisable.
Can we complain about photos if we have no Chinese trademark? Yes. A copyright complaint rests on ownership of the photos, not on a trademark registration.
Will removing the photos stop the copied product? No. The seller can reshoot. To stop the product, you need a Chinese design patent or, for branded copies, a Chinese trademark.
J&C Intellectual Property Agency, founded in 2008, is a CNIPA-recorded trademark agency and a member of the China Trademark Association. For copyright registration and related services in China, see our copyright services.
