Steeti Versfeld is a New Zealand male model, 1.91m tall, weighing 82kg, living in Auckland.
Recently, he encountered a strange thing and was puzzled.
In the product display of the Temu e-commerce platform, that is, the overseas version of Pinduoduo, his personal photos appeared, as well as clothes suspected to have been designed by himself.
And he never authorized the use.
"The photos are used, but what about my money?"
The photos were first posted on his Instagram account.
The photo shows the background of the night on Queen Street in Auckland's near the harbour area, as well as him wearing a piece of clothing. The photo shows the ICBC business hall in Auckland.
"This is a photo I uploaded in October 2022." He said.
He designed the outfit himself and was going to his brother's wedding.
After the design, I felt that it was too beautiful, so I made a circle.
But he didn't expect that on Temu recently, he saw this set of photos actually appear on the display page of a men's clothing brand.
The brand is called Incerunmen, and the price is listed on the website as $21.41.
In this merchandise display, the top half of his face has been cut off, only the part below the chin.
When Steeti Versfeld saw it, he felt that there was a series of unexplained questions.
"I thought, 'Isn't that me?' Why me? Why didn't they put my face on it? It's a nice picture.
"I'm not a big fashion brand, which is really weird.
"And I didn't have permission at all, what about my money?"
Present your own design materials
According to the website's product description, for as little as $21.41, you can buy this outfit in black or purple.
But the outfit was designed and made by Steeti Versfeld himself to go to the wedding.
He still retains the original design pattern:
Steeti Versfeld shows the design saved on his computer:
He said his design at the time considered several themes of inspiration, such as "Roman cloaks, perverted scenes, and a same-sex world."
Just to have an exaggerated performance as the best man at the wedding.
So he sewed it with his own hands, and then adjusted it in front of the mirror:
Could it be ...... These design materials have already been "inspired" by other unknown fashion designers......
Steeti Versfeld says he is in a state of complete confusion.
From the design point of view, there is a lot of similarity between my works at that time and those sold online.
Including all sleeveless, all have one-shoulder shawls.
Steeti Versfeld says he feels "exploited", not only for design, but also for the use of photographs.
The model said he had never downloaded or used the Temu app.
He has also not done business with the Incerunmen brand, either in terms of photographs or designs.
He appealed to Temu and the Incerunmen brand, and now the result is only the removal of the product from the shelves.
"In the era of online consumption, no one respects me"
A spokesperson for the e-commerce platform Temu responded to the New Zealand media: "Since its launch, we have been closely following the feedback from brands and copyright holders, and have been constantly upgrading our intellectual property protection system.
"Sellers are vetted before listing products for sale, we proactively monitor the platform for potential infringing products, and our reporting and enforcement mechanisms ensure that non-compliant products are flagged and removed quickly."
"On the one hand, our goal is to enhance machine learning capabilities in order to more proactively identify and prevent potentially infringing products from being brought to market.
"On the other hand, we are exploring how we can improve the existing IP protection portals to provide more targeted support to help them more effectively defend the rights of creators."
Incerunmen's response is somewhat intriguing.
Incerunmen responded that they have no relationship with the stores under their name on Temu and that "the sales on Temu have nothing to do with us."
In response, New Zealand male model Steeti Versfeld lamented: "I just think it's a fruitless struggle...... I didn't even hear a word of sorry. ”
"It's hilarious, and what about my money? Who has benefited from this? I didn't have it anyway. ”
He said, "Where the hell is the boundary? What's your own creativity? I did feel like I was being exploited – there was no one to communicate with me. In the age of online consumption, no one respects me. ”
From the design to the face, it will be stolen and become "material"
This is not the first time something like this has happened.
Previously, Time magazine reported that American small business owner Jessi Roberts said that her products were copied on Temu shortly after they were listed on the website.
"It makes me angry to see our earrings on sale for $1.99 with free shipping," she says. ”
It is understood that this kind of thing is usually aimed at small businesses or individuals in overseas countries.
They usually don't have a strong team to protect their copyrights like big corporations.
Some designers said that although the goods are usually removed from the shelves soon after they appeal, they will appear on other sellers or e-commerce platforms after a period of time.
Leora Aileen, a designer from the Netherlands, pictured below is a bag she designed herself online for 13 euros:
Later she found out that there were almost identical design items on Temu, almost exactly copied, and sold for 5 euros.
"I felt like I couldn't do anything about it." "You've worked so hard and poured so much creativity into designing something, and you've put so much effort into every sale," she said. However, someone has taken your design away from the photo. ”
Aileen complained and the product was taken off the shelves, but a few weeks later, she saw that another seller was also selling the bag, and the price was still more than 5 euros, and 741 pieces had already been sold.
In addition, in recent times, with the rise of AI, there have been frequent cases of face theft.
If you often look at Chinese social platforms, you will find that there is a "shared face" that appears on many accounts, some are called Natasha, and some are called Lina and Beova......
In fact, the videos are all generated by AI, and the bloggers' "faces" come from Ukrainian influencer Olga Loiek.
It wasn't until Olga Loiek herself posted a video accusing her of illegal theft of her face that she uncovered the inside story of these accounts.
From stealing real people's portraits, using AI to generate false images to impersonate real people, to selling tutorials, raising accounts, to bringing goods to cash out and even fraud, a gray industry chain has been derived behind AI fake bloggers.
Ukrainian blogger Olga Loiek complains about the constant theft of her face:
There are also people who see this outlet and start a business of selling faces, attracting traffic on short video platforms, in addition to operating accounts to bring goods, they also sell materials and operation guidance for such accounts.
It's no wonder that Internet celebrities or designs with a little bit of beauty were stolen by the slightest accident.
I didn't expect that now,
Something like that
It's also the turn of New Zealand's designers.
Steeti Versfeld said he often saw stories like this online and didn't believe he would be a part of it before.
He said that before the items were taken off the shelves, Temu's website showed that 16 of them had been sold, along with three five-star reviews.