How to Stop Someone Selling Your STL Files or 3D Prints on Etsy

Many sellers on Etsy often have other sellers put up their STL files or 3D prints for sale and illegally profit from it.  In most cases, these sellers do not know how to stop them from selling their works on Etsy.  This is why I decided to write an article on how to go about this.

To stop someone selling your STL files or 3D prints on Etsy, you can contact the seller directly from his listing page and issue a warning telling them to take down the listing. If they don’t, you can file a report on Etsy’s Reporting Portal against the seller.

While this may be a short answer, keep reading for more details on how to stop someone selling your STL files or 3D prints on Etsy.

How to Stop Someone Selling Your STL Files or 3D Prints on Etsy

Here are some ways to stop someone selling your STL files or 3D prints on Etsy:

• Issue a warning to the seller.
• Report the seller on Etsy’s Reporting Portal.

Issue a Warning to the Seller

If you identify someone selling your STL files or 3D prints without permission, you can contact the owner of the Etsy shop to resolve the issue. You can consider sending a cease and desist letter to the seller in question.

This formal notice should demand that the seller stop the unauthorized use of the files in question immediately.

Also, it would serve as a warning that legal action may follow if the infringement persists. In most cases, most individuals might comply after receiving such a letter, avoiding the need for further escalation.

You can contact a seller by following the steps below:

• Sign into your Etsy account.

• Use the search bar at the top of the Etsy page to search for the item you are interested in or the shop you want to contact.

• Once you find the shop or item you want to inquire about, click on the shop’s name or the item’s title to visit the seller’s shop page.
• On the seller’s listing page, select “Contact” or” Message Seller” under the listing title.

• A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to compose your message to the seller. Clearly state your question, inquiry, or any details you want to discuss.
• You can now input your text to notify the seller into the text box.
• After you send your message, the seller will be notified and can respond.

You will receive a notification on Etsy when the seller responds to your message. To view and reply to the seller’s response, click on the envelope icon in the top-right corner of the Etsy page, then select “Messages.

However, if the seller refuses to take down the listing or fails to respond to your message, you can now report the seller to Etsy.

One user said he contacted the sellers who sold his design on Etsy. One of the sellers credited him for the design, while the other one claimed his brother designed it. He then contacted Etsy, who took down the listing.

Another user stated that he reached out to people he found selling his designs. He asked one of them to donate either 25% of the sales or 50% of the profit to charity. The seller ended up donating all the proceeds to charity.

The other seller was uncooperative and he reported the listing to Etsy and it was taken. It turned out that this seller stole all the designs in their catalog.

Report the Seller on Etsy’s Reporting Portal

Another way to stop someone selling your STL files or 3D prints on Etsy is to report them on Etsy’s Reporting portal. Etsy provides Intellectual Property (IP) protection tools to help creators safeguard their work.

You can submit a report of alleged infringement against Etsy shop listings on the Etsy Reporting Portal. This is the easiest way to report alleged infringement to Etsy and its Designated Agent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other intellectual property rights.

Here’s how to report someone selling your STL files or 3D print on Etsy:

• Register on Etsy’s Reporting Portal
• Add an Intellectual Property
• File your Report

Register on Etsy’s Reporting Portal

The first step is to Register your Etsy shop on Etsy’s Reporting Portal. You can register your Etsy shop with the following steps:

• Click on the link Etsy Reporting Portal
• Click on the hyperlink “Sign in” to access your account.

• Register your details on the Etsy Reporting Portal.
• Select who owns the rights to the property. You would be asked to either choose if you own the rights to the intellectual property, or are authorized to report on behalf of your employer or an organization or client that owns the rights.
• Then you can fill in your personal details or your company’s details.

Add an Intellectual Property

After you’ve registered your Etsy shop on the portal, you can now add the intellectual property that you want to file a report on. You can also add other intellectual properties there even if you are not filling a report on them.

To add an intellectual property, simply click on “Get Started” under the “Intellectual Property” navigation bar. You can now add your Intellectual and select the type of property it is.

This could be a Trademark, Copyright, Patent, or other form of licensing. Also, you’ll need to fill out other information related to the intellectual property licensing and save it when you’re done.

However, if you already added an intellectual property on the portal, you can proceed to file your report.

File Your Report

After you have added your intellectual property, you can now file your report.  You can file your report with the steps below.

• Click on “Report” on the top navigation bar.
• Input your “Report Name”, “Intellectual Property owner” and the “Type of Intellectual Property” to create your report and save.
• Use the search bar to find listings that violate your intellectual property and add them to your report.
• Then you can review the information you provided in the report and submit it.
• Once you submit, you should receive an email confirmation from Etsy that your report was received.
• After a while, you should get an email notifying you of the outcome of their investigation. In the meantime, you can also check the status of your report on the “Reports” tab.

Check out this video from Etsy to walk you through this process.

If you’re representing the property owner, you’ll need to upload a “Letter of Authorization” before you can make a report. Once Etsy reviews your report based on its Intellectual Property Policy and complies with its policies, it will remove the reported content and contact the affected members.

When Etsy removes or disables access in response to a report, it provides information about the report and removal to the alleged culprit. In cases of alleged copyright infringement, they also provide information about how to submit a counter-notice.

Sometimes, they provide a copy of the infringement report, including the name and email address of the reporting party, to the affected member.

If they discover that the report filed by a seller is false or fraudulent, it will be rejected. They can take further action on the report depending on the severity of the incident.

One user stated that someone sold their cartoon design without their consent on Etsy. He reported it to Etsy and the seller’s shop was quickly taken down by Etsy.