The problem

Currently Etsy allows anyone to make a DMCA copyright infringement claim on media. This has plagued the fan art communities immensely and has caused many Shops to be closed down due to multiple strikes.

The common name behind all these copyright infringement claims is a Company known as RemoveYourMedia (formerly RemoveYourContent) who uses bots to search tags to copyright strike anyone making fan content. This has both affected fan artists, cosplayers and people who simply make videos on you tube talking about content.

The person behind the claim is a person known as , of Remove Your Media. This person has harassed fan artists both big and small since as far back as 2009. They mainly focus on VIZ anime media and the popular webtoon series Lore Olympus. They claim to be reporting " on the behalf of" and not listing the actual media that is the IP holder.

Many people have done research deep into this person and who they are. Many have discovered that This "" is not real. The location of the media office points to nothing but a strip mall shipping store. The person's linked in also provides very little context behind who they are and no affiliation with the companies they "claim" to represent.

There is an entire log of one person's experience with expressed here

There is also several threads on twitter of people talking about this and sharing their experiences on dealing with and what was being flagged as infringing material here

More content of other people being falsely accused by Remove your media.

youtube attack ​

someone who talked with viz and RYM claiming it was a ukraine hacker​

reddit thread where people talk about their experiences with

What etsy does

During the pandemic many people have started using etsy as a means to sell their art for some extra funds during the closures of many conventions and usual places fan artists share their work with other fans. Etsy has played a large role for small artists to find a place to easily be seen and get their content to people who want to support the fan artist.

Etsy recently has started removing content that has been claimed as "copyright infringement" by this from RemoveYourMedia.com without letting the sellers dispute the claims. They have gone as far to close their help lines both phone and chat and have gone to ignore many ticket claims people have filed to counter the DMCA claim against them. They have removed entire stores without warning or allowing the sellers to state their claims against the reporting party.

Etsy has also with held peoples funds that have multiple claims against them by this remove your media site and now requires proof of shipping of goods to claim the funds the etsy seller has made. Etsy has not helped any sellers understand the purpose of this and has ghosted peoples concerns.

Etsy seemingly doesn't care about the sellers that use its platform and will not allow sellers to plead their case against any false claims.

What we want

1. Etsy to investigate copyright claims before removing content by checking the claim.
2. letting sellers plead their case before they get shut down or items removed
3. Open up a contact line for sellers to talk to a representative about issues with false claims both from buyers and from DMCA claims
4. Recognize that fan art is a form of art that can be sold on their platform as many items are created by one's own talent and creativity.
5. Recognize that someone mass reporting copyright claims is not legitimate and to help protect the sellers listings by putting up more process to file said claims while also allowing the seller to know that a claim was filed against them before their item gets removed allowing the seller to state their behalf of the claim.
6. Give the sellers a feeling of etsy being on their side and wanting their interest to keep using the site.