Deactivated account because of copyright infringement complaint that was submitted mistakenly
Hello everyone
For over 40 days we are having a serious issue with amazon. Because of a wrong copyright infringement violation complaint made by the right’s owner, first our amazon.co.uk account and after our accounts at all amazon marketplaces were deactivated. We have been appealing since this issue started. We have contacted the right’s owner, brand officials, and law department of the brand, and also our supplier who is an official distributor of this brand.
Right’s owner has already confirmed the retracted their complaint about our shop since it was a misunderstanding and mistake from their side. They also sent us a copy of the email that they have sent to amazon for the retraction of the complaint, which we have shared with amazon already. The brand also confirmed our authorization to use their Intellectual Property and successful retraction of the complaint. They have also understood the issue and doing all they can to help us to solve this issue.
But Amazon is not answering our appeals anymore, because we have submitted a lot of different appeals already. But in all responses we have received from Amazon, it was clearly mentioned that a retraction of the complaint from the right’s owner will be enough to activate our account and reinstate listings. Right’s owner confirms successful retraction of the complaint and time passed already after they approved it, but our account is still deactivated.
We understand that Amazon wants to make sure about the authorizations seller’s have and also if there are any violations of amazon policy and the IP rights of others. The problem is our account was deactivated because of this mistake that was made by the right’s owner, amazon has blocked our funds and we cannot make any sales anymore. This is a huge trouble for us. Because of something we have not done, all our work is blocked right now. We have not been able to pay our taxes and payments to our suppliers. We have been trying to explain all these to amazon but we receive the same responses from them.
We do not know what else we can do to fix this situation in and outside of Amazon. Is there anyone here that can help us with this issue? An email address or contact information for the correct team from amazon should be enough. Because anyone that will read our appeal and check the attached files will also understand the whole issue and in what kind of situation we have been since 40 days because of a mistake that was done by the right’s owner.
Thank you
43 replies
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
Did the retraction letter have your store name and merchant token number on it ?
Seller_f6b3Tk8KSNX2A
Hello @AUTORITET,
Thank you for contacting us.
I understand that you need help with the Intellectual property complaints on your account.
Further,
I would request you to submit a plan of action considering the below points and attach the retraction proof with the same so that the team can review it:
Be concise, specific to the issue identified, work on the following points and think about long term solutions.
Root cause: What went wrong that the issue had come up?
- Did you seek permissions before mapping? If you have permissions, provide the same.
- If you do not agree to the claim, you must provide valid proofs to challenge this decision.
Corrective measures: After receiving the notification, what steps had you taken to resolve the issue?
- Did you contact the Right’s owner to get a better understanding of this issue?
- Did you reach out to your supplier to confirm if they were authorized to sell the brand in question?
- Did you check your existing listings to see for any infringement which may have gone unnoticed?
Preventive steps: Think long term!
- What are the changes you can bring in to control or to avoid similar violation?
- If you are not authorized to sell a brand, how will you make sure to not list it?
Here are a few more things to consider as you create your plan:
- Did you fully comprehend the specific policies and the root cause that led to the action on the ASIN; - Removed all listing(s) you were reported for and associated or similar listings?
- Provided a reasonable plan to avoid any policy violations in the future.
- Provided valid invoices, letter of authorization, images, or licensing agreements.
- Highlight areas in your supporting documents. You can make your response more relevant by circling or highlighting the area within your documents that is most important such as ASINs, Supplier details (for example, name and supplier website) or clauses within your Terms and Conditions.
Make sure to show your understanding of Amazon’s intellectual property policy.
Further for more details, you can also raise a case through Contact us on seller central.
If you need any further assistance, you can post your Plan of Action here before submitting so that we or any of the sellers on forum can help you with more insights.
Regards,
Venessa
Ash_Amazon
Hello @AUTORITET,
This is Ash from Amazon, and would assist you with your questions above.
I understand that you have concerns on the Intellectual property complaints on your account.
As advised by @Venessa_Amazon, did you submit the detailed plan of action along with retraction proofs.
Also you can reach out to the concerned team using the link above.
If the retraction is already submitted by the rights owner, kindly wait till the review gets completed.
If you have any further concerns, please post the same so that the forums community can help you.
Regards,
Ash.
Seller_sFEUMUfeW5484
It’s literally like pulling teeth. Reading this thread. Honestly mods, if you want to help, at least read the OPs post and try to understand the actual issue. Painful reading.
Seller_zSgC5zKFELg5A
Hello @AUTORITET,
Thank you for reaching out to the forum’s community once again!
We would not be able to quote in regards to the retraction.
To help you better, we would like to know did you submit the letter of authorization or licensing agreement which was issued from the right owner prior to the violation?(which indicates you had the authorization)
If you do not own any authorization you would need to appeal with a plan of action.
Note: if you have requested for a retraction from the rights owner ensure you even appeal with a plan of action, as only retraction would not resolve the issue.
For more information on our policy of copyrights, kindly go through the link : https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G201361070
Regards,
Nehal
Seller_1zZOhA76X96Ak
Hello @AUTORITET,
Thank you for contacting us.
I understand that you need help with the copyright infringement complaints on your account.
@The_Little_Shop Thank you for the input.
Furthermore, I would recommend reaching out by phone by going to the help page you can call us by following these steps once you get to the help page:
Click on “get support”> selling on amazon > products, listings, or inventory > trouble adding a product > contact us > then fill out the info and your phone number for us to reach out.
Also share your plan of action here so that we can guide you better.
Regards,
Vans
Seller_eSJrnftRPlrV1
Hello Everyone that has tried to help us and provided information
We would like to thank you all for your time and for your help. Amazon finally activated our account.
It took exactly 60 days to explain the whole situation and to get our account activated.
We still support amazon’s policy to protect IP rights of brand owners and policies to make amazon better and safer place for its customers, but we hope this will not happen to any other sellers by mistake ( like in our case ), because it is a very complicated and stressful process to get everything reinstated again.
Best Regards to all
Autoritet
