Chinese plagiarism and piracy on AliExpress puts Mexican designers at risk
Businesses selling on the Internet, whether it is food, clothing or other items, have multiplied in recent years, thus favoring small businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as other groups of the population such as than the self-proclaimed “nenis”; however, the landscape behind the sales includes a long list of challenges and among them stands out plagiarism and Chinese hack. The question has been of interest to small businesses for years, but in recent weeks it has become very important as buyers themselves have expressed their annoyance.
In early November, the Mexican designer Georgina Chavez went viral on Twitter, after he shared a thread in which he detailed how his designs completed plagiarized and pirated on the site of AliExpress, the Chinese online sales platform of the Alibaba Group. The consequencesrecounts in an interview with El Heraldo Digital, are seriousbecause it implies a bad reputation for Mexican talents, including its brand of the same name, the work of its designers and, of course, the loss of sales.
And it is that, as he clarified in his viral thread, now many potential customers who find his brand They accuse him of selling Chinese piracy, that is, poor quality and overloaded clothes. The above despite the recognition that her Chihuahua business has and is that in addition to the support of her clients, Georgina Chávez has the recognition of the world of entertainment, as Mexican celebrities such as Danna Paola, Dulce María and Ximena Sariñana used their clothes.
“It’s not the first time,” the designer says of plagiarism
After telling her story and going viral, Georgina Chavez He admitted to us that this is not the first time that he has been confronted with such a situation; However, since she launched her brand in 2013, she fears for her project, her efforts and her work, both for her and for her seamstresses, all from Chihuahua. And it is that before the massification and the reach that a company like AliExpress, the actions you can take are almost nil; instead, her brand is affected, as the public has come to believe that she is the one selling the Chinese hack.
“It’s not the first time this has happened. Some subscribers had already sent us screenshots showing our clothes appearing in advertising; they started alerting us that our photos were being promoted in advertising campaigns for AliExpress“, he details in his conversation with this media.
Despite this, he maintains that it is a more common practice than one might think and that it happens to the most recognized designers and at least in his case the the scenario is disturbing because it faces several challenges such as retrieve the credibility of your image and your sales. When he talks about the biggest risks that occurred after taking photos from the online sales platform, he points out:
- They think we’re stealing the pictures
- decrease of sales
- You can’t compete with them
- Many small brands have to close because of plagiarism and piracy
One of the greatest current challenges, and which has even been denounced by other creators of various products and which they put on sale on the Internet, is not only that the photos of the designs are stolen, but also the concept itself and that’s where piracy comes in. Of course, when we talk about a global context there are few things that can be done legally to register designs and reduce the negative impact on signatures.
Indeed, adds the seamstress, following the impact of her thread on Twitter, she received many tips such as putting a watermark on her photos and using the networks to show how each creation was made; However, he explains that this is not enough, as even those who steal his material often remove the signatures and add their own. With regard to the legal aspect, he pointed out that “We are not looking to prosecute anyone.”
“Ya me había asesorado con un abogado y me decía que estaba difícil registrar los diseños porque tienes que hacerlo no sólo en México, sino en varios países. A raíz del tuit muchas personas nos han escrito: ‘mira te puedes ir por este camino’ (We want that) do not use the photos, that would be ideal; I’m not looking, we’re not looking to sue anyone, but don’t use these photos so there’s no false advertising with them because obviously the same dress won’t come to them,” a- she declared.
Plagiarism, a repeating scenario for both designers and craftsmen
Of course, the risk goes beyond AliExpress or other sites that can take pictures of design and clothing experts, because there is also the plagiarism of each clothing and in many cases, although the costs are cheaper for buyers, the products that they receive or are of lesser quality or have little to do with the photo for which they decide to buy. In both cases, the response from designers and artisans is always the same: “There is not much to do” and therefore they run the risk of closing.
“What happens with many small businesses is that the market or the big producers steal your ideas, your photos, your concepts, your designs and your creativity, and Nope you can compete with them. So they end up closing many small brands because of this competition that I consider unfair,” adds Georgina Chávez.
In this sense, he points out that “Georgina Chávez” seeks to promote a slow mode, which is the opposite of AliExpress, Unlike Shein and Joke, the utility these companies have comes from working time; The faster the clothes come out, the more they can produce.” Instead, with her brand, what she is looking for is that the designs have been made for the time being by mexican hands and to avoid having stocks, in addition to not contributing to the fast fashion in which “additional clothes” are produced.
Taking advantage of the subject’s relevance at a time like this, he added: “It is an invitation to the public to stop consuming in this type of business that they clearly have no ethics and that is destroying the mexican industry i.e. a trendy place that in the long run maybe they say it can’t them affect but it ends up affecting jobs in those cultures, I don’t know, that would be the message I want.”
Without legal defense and nothing to do; Here’s how big companies are stealing Mexican designs
It’s not the first time that Mexicans denounce the abuses of large international companies on fashion and even on the culture of our country, since in addition to more media cases like that of the designer of Chihuahua, there is also much talk of traditional clothing made by the hands of indigenous women, who are also at a great disadvantage to verify that much of what is purchased on websites is plagiarism or imitation.
“There are great Company who do the same come explode, to buy, but at very low prices, cheating, then they leave and start saying things are theirs. Because of the big platforms they have, it’s very difficult to fight them and show where they come from, where we come from,” Angelina Evaristo Pérez told El Heraldo Digital.
Originally from the Amuzga community of Guerrero and with the help of her son Vicente Apóstol, who translated the woman’s statements into Spanish, she explained that in her case the problem covers more than anything previously reported, as they even suffer from direct flights by strangers for their community and who travel to the state just to buy at very low prices and resell at higher prices.
According to their testimonies, a few months ago a group of people came to the community “and suddenly they gathered several craftsmen to buy the huipiles and all that, but in this they bought at low prices, at apart from that, They stole several coins.
Por su parte, the artist Ignacio Netzahualcóyotl, originario de Contla de Juan Cuamatzin, Tlaxcala, identified as one of the maximum representatives of the tejido in telar antiguo in all the country también conversó con El Heraldo Digital sobre los múltiples casos de firmas reconocidas que se justifiedan with the inspiration launch collections that recover mexican drawings steeped in culture and history.
“Maybe the brands express it as a kind of recognition of the work, but if there is no benefit that reaches the community, there is nothing to recognize, because the communities where the plagiarism takes place there is always a need, and the need is dire There is no way to generate respect except through a benefit, a direct benefit to the communities” who are bullied, he explained.
Source: El Heraldo De Mexico
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