Major Scam Targets Amazon Sellers — How To Protect Yourself
As if Amazon Sellers didn’t have enough to worry about, it’s been reported that there has been a sharp increase in scams perpetrated against them.
In this video, we’ll take a look at some of the most common scams and offer tips on how to protect yourself.
If you’re an Amazon seller, make sure you watch this video! It will help you protect yourself from scammers and keep your business running smoothly.
Challenges to private label brand
When you establish a private label brand, you typically produce your own pictures and verbiage that you want to be associated with your business. For a couple years, businesses in China have been taking advantage of unregistered content like this and registering it with the U.S. copyright office to gain legal ownership and file complaints against you. Once you create something you own copyright interest in it even if you don’t file, but if someone else files for it first they can claim legal rights.
If someone complains to Amazon that the product listing of a seller account is infringing on intellectual property rights it must be taken down in order to maintain the “Safe Harbor Provision” which protects the company from being sued.
How to respond
You should respond to the claim by taking down the product listing which allegedly infringes on IP rights before reaching out to Amazon with a DMCA notice which alerts the other side that if they do not pursue a lawsuit, the complaint will be removed. Alongside this documentation, provide Amazon with a plan of action (POA) that shows them evidence that you are the real owner of the copyrighted content.
Most importantly, make sure that when this process is completed that you register your content with the copyright office. Establishing yourself as the legal owner to a creation protects it from the misuse and exploitation of others who have not contributed to your content.