Search any print-on-demand site or handmade marketplace for a popular character and you'll find two very different things side by side. Some listings are straight copies of the official designs, printed on shirts and stickers without a license. Others are original drawings by fans. Telling them apart is one of the hardest parts of merchandise protection, and getting it wrong is costly either way.
Why it matters
Miss the copies and they keep selling, at your licensees' expense. Report the wrong thing and the costs are quieter but real: an artist's original work is removed, fans notice, and the platform sees a rights owner filing reports that don't hold up. Platforms take accurate reporters more seriously, so every bad report weakens the next good one.
How we draw the line
Every listing we collect goes through three checks before anything is reported.
- Detect. We search with targeted multi-term queries, broad keyword sweeps and image search. Exclusion words, curated word lists and approved-seller lists filter out legitimate merchandise and authorized sellers from the start.
- Recognize. Our image recognition algorithm, Bullseye, compares each product image against the client's logos, designs and product images. It judges the image, not the title. A copied design gets matched even when the listing never names the brand. An original drawing that only resembles the style doesn't match.
- Verify. Our review team checks every remaining listing by hand. If a reviewer isn't sure, the listing is held, not reported. There are no bulk or sampled approvals.
What gets reported, and what doesn't
- Reported: official logos, designs and character artwork copied onto products; product photos lifted from official listings; designs that match the client's even when the title is disguised.
- Not reported: fan art that doesn't match the client's designs; listings from authorized sellers and licensees; anything our review team isn't sure about.
Why our numbers have a gap
Across our programs we've identified about ~111M suspected listings and removed 63M+. The difference is the point. We only report confirmed infringements, and fan art that doesn't match the client's designs is one of the reasons a suspected listing never gets reported.
The result
Holding back costs a little speed on the edge cases. In return, our clients' licensees are protected, fans aren't caught in the crossfire, and the platforms trust the reports we do file. See how our merchandise protection works, or talk to our team about your properties.
Seeing your content or brand where it shouldn't be?
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