NS International Textiles (NSI), a South Korean company, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against fast-fashion purveyor Shein. The company filed the complaint at the end of March in a California court.
The complaint alleges that Shein, and manufacturers or agents it uses, listed in the legal documents as “Doe” defendants because NSI lacks the resources to know their true identities at present, “created, sold, manufactured, caused to be manufactured, imported and /or distributed fabric and/or garments comprised of fabric bearing an unauthorized reproduction of” three NSI designs.
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According to the complaint, NSI has “widely disseminated fabric bearing the [copyrighted designs] to numerous parties in the fashion and apparel industries” for a number of years. It feels that, because of Shein’s purported infringement, it has lost profits it could have otherwise made.
NSI states that its registered copyrights are meant to be “used for purposes of textile printing” for each of the prints used on the allegedly infringing garments. The items at issue include a long-sleeve bodycon dress, a three-piece bikini set and a long-sleeve A-line dress, all allegedly sold by Shein. While those three specific items are highlighted in the complaint, NSI notes that the list of garments may not be limited to solely those items.
Shein did not return Sourcing Journal’s request for comment on the complaint, but its website notes that, should copyright owners feel that an item listed on the e-tailer’s site has infringed on their copyright, they should file a complaint or issue a takedown notice. The complaint does not immediately make it clear whether NSI took either of those actions on the items in question.
NSI seeks an injunction which would see Shein and the Doe defendants unable to use the copyrights they allegedly infringed upon, as well as “all profits of defendants plus all losses of plaintiff, plus any other monetary advantage gained by the defendants through their infringement.”
NSI isn’t alone in pursuing legal action against Shein over intellectual property spats; according to a June 2024 report from Reuters, Shein had been named in at least 90 lawsuits alleging that it had, in some way, pirated others’ protected designs and logos.
NSI filed a similar lawsuit to the one it has filed against Shein, against a company called Maxi Global Incorporation, which it alleges sells swimwear and is doing business as Cacelin, infringed on a design copyrighted by NSI.
Shein has not yet filed a response to NSI’s claims, federal court records show.
