How can I be sure that my copyright protected images are secure and not shareware on Zazzle?

[MCMGal]

Hello - I am doing my due diligence before I begin creating products again with Zazzle. I need assurances that when I publish my art on "customizable" and non customizable products that the art I upload remains mine and mine alone. I have registered .gov copyrights on my artwork and I need to be sure that it does not fall into downloadable content access. I have read the Terms, but I really need assurances (and some guidance) that I can do this in the correct way that my art never gets "shared" for other creators to use and profit from. Can someone on Zazzle Staff discuss this with me please? Thanks, I am looking forward to reuniting with Zazzle.

ZAZZLE TERMS excerpt:  If you select the "customizable" option, you also agree that Zazzle and Users may make changes to the Content for the purposes of creating and ordering Products: Such changes may include the addition of Content contributed by the User ("User Content") or Content “Posted for Use” by other Creators and offered in Zazzle’s Design Tool(s) ("Secondary Content"). Composite designs and associated metadata that: (i) are published by Creators (i.e., not contributed by Zazzle) using our “Post for Download” or “Post for Sale” workflows, and (ii) associated with a Product type (e.g., t-shirt, Facebook® banner, tote bag, etc.), are "Primary Content." Primary Content published by a Creator as “Post for Sale” will not be available as downloadable Content unless the Creator also chooses to publish that Primary Content as “Post for Download.”

[idraw]

I am not Zazzle 🙂 but I am an illustrator with copyright usage and knowledge dating back to before 1990. I can share some of what I know, in order to help you and others.
You can make sure to add your copyright into your work--- © Copyright 'your name' and 'year'.
Of course, as long as a customer can take a screenshot of your image, for example on a flat item such as a card,poster, (anything flat with no t4exture or grain) which they can uprez, regarding zazzle, there is not much you can do other than

login to your account
go to >advanced settings>
Design Transfer
This feature allows customers to transfer the design of the origin product to another product available in our Create Your Own section. Your royalty percent will be based on your member default royalty rate.

do not check—Enable Design Transfer
——————
Image watermark option: If digital security is a primary concern for you
Most Zazzle store owners find that displaying watermark-covered designs to all customers is just not worth the (small) amount of digital security it may provide. Now that hundreds of millions of people carry computers in their pocket with high resolution screens, even search engines require Zazzle and others to provide high resolution imagery without watermarks or risk not appearing in their search results for customers.
We at Zazzle agree with the majority of our store owners, and as believers in our
, we think you will too! However, we also know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't fit with our commitment to our creative community, so we offer this choice in case it is important to you.
check—x Show patterned watermarks for large images on all of this store's products
————————
Marketing and Promotions
Zazzle markets, promotes, and sells your products on Zazzle.com and its affiliated sites, and may also do so on other websites.
check—x Do not allow my products to be sold on other websites.

---------------

Anyone from across the globe can take a screenshot, and most notably (in China, India, South America etc., a factory can produce cheap shirts and other products. Since copyright is not exactly "protected in most countries, unless you are there and can locate the product, there is not much you can do. Read in the forum about Amazon (here in the US!) and others selling copies of pillows taken from Zazzle SKs. Submit a copyright violation, request take downs, then the violators repost in another account. You are the owner of your work, Zazzle is not, so to paraphrase Zazzle, if there is a violation elsewhere it is up to you to resolve it,by proving you own your work and then submitting a takedown notice.

BTW, US Copyright changed their fees, no more bulk submissions for $45, like maybe 4/5 years ago(?).  It is VERY EXORBITANTLY EXPENSIVE,prohibitive if you have more than just a few illustrations to register.

[MCMGal]

Thank you draw... I think your response is extremely helpful. I will follow your guidance step by step. Just a question, why would I not want Zazzle to Market my products on other sites? I still receive the royalty correct?

[idraw]

Hope this info helps everyone.....
Referring to
Marketing and Promotions
Zazzle markets, promotes, and sells your products on Zazzle.com and its affiliated sites, and may also do so on other websites.
--------
........'and its affiliated sites'

=============

How to Build Referral Links
Zazzle Help Center > Selling > Associates Program
You can find all of the Zazzle International sites on the Zazzle International Page.
https://www.zazzle.com/international

International Referrals
To earn referrals for Zazzle International sites, replace the "zazzle.com" portion of the URL with the Zazzle international domain you would like to link to.
———————
Zazzle Help Center > General Info > Guidelines and Policies
To assist Zazzle in protecting the intellectual property rights of others, Zazzle has appointed a Copyright Agent,

Amazon Copyright and Trademark Infringement
Zazzle Help Center > General Info > Guidelines and Policies
If you receive an Amazon Counter Notice for a claim that includes the Zazzle trademark, email Zazzle at amazon.fraudlistings

How zRank Works
Zazzle Help Center > Selling > Are You a New Creator? Start here.

Zazzle Help Center > Selling > Getting Paid

How to Join the Associates Program
Zazzle Help Center > Selling > Associates Program

Zazzle Help Center > General Info > General Inquiries
The Zazzle Associate Program works like an affiliate link-sharing program.

Zazzle Help Center > Selling > Are You a New Creator? Start here.
You may also choose whether other Zazzle users can customize your products. Post products for sale.

Changes to our User Agreement and Policies as of November 22, 2019
Zazzle Help Center > General Info > Guidelines and Policies

[MCMGal]

Thank you! Very helpful I Draw... I am printing out this thread. Please, If anyone else has something more to contribute DO add in your 2¢! Cheers, Diane Dempsey 

✨🎅🤶✨

[Ms_Contrary]

Re copyrights: you still retain copyright to your work whether or not you've filed it with the U.S. Copyright Office, but there are monetary reasons why you might find filing to be a good thing. (and yes; I agree that it has become cost-prohibitive)

[Scott]

I'm not quite sue what you mean by "shareware." This term is normally applied to software that has a trial period. We're happy to answer any questions that you might have, but it might be more helpful if you can provide us with a list of questions or concerns that you may have.

I'll start by mentioning that if you upload an image to a poster and publish to the marketplace you will always retain full copyright over the image.

If you're new to the platform then I'd suggest taking a look around at the tools available to customers.

[MCMGal]

Hi Scott, Thanks for responding to my question. I am asking for specific guidance as I would like to begin again on Zazzle, and want to do this correctly for each product.  I once had a presence on Zazzle for over 10 years (with a nice income too),  and had to remove it all as the new terms in 2019 made my artwork on the customizable products available to be downloaded, + shared to other products by other creators and then claimed as their own artwork + they would receive royalties on my art, even off site of the Zazzle platform. It had in part, to do with the change in the Zazzle definition of digital content - enabling Users to create designs and use it out in the world without having to add it to a physical product on the Zazzle platform. This left my art available for users to download and sell anywhere in the world. I need to know if there is now a way to publish my work on Zazzle and NOT allow it to become a derivative work that another user claims the rights to.  Please see the snippet of the Terms from 2019 attached:

I am not a lawyer, and would really like to sort through all this but I cannot allow my art to become vulnerable. I have worked for over 19 years to create the Retro Christmas Card Company and as much as I would love to participate in Zazzles platform again, I need to approach this is an informed manner. Thanks for helping me understand the TERMS as they exist today. Cheers, Diane Dempsey

[Scott]

My recollection of what happened in 2019 was that the terms were not worded very well, and people were unhappy with that. We updated the terms shortly thereafter in order to clarify a few points. This had little do to with the actual capabilities of the website.

Again, I would encourage you to spend some time using our tools and see for yourself if there is any possible way to take an existing product and modify it and post it for sale under a different account. I've worked on the QA team here at Zazzle since 2015 and I can assure you that this is not possible.

[shellifitz]

I am also interested in the official answer to this question as I never felt like it was sufficiently explained or clarified in the past.   

Specifically, do the above mentioned license rights apply only to content the collaboration initiator and other collaborators upload themselves?  What would happen if they began with one of my designs with my copyrighted artwork?  The blurb above and the way it is worded sounds like you want me to agree to granting collaborators the same type of license that I grant to Zazzle. This needs to be crystal clear because I, for one do not want to give random users of the site those sweeping rights.  Thank you. 

[Scott]

You always retain copyright to your original artwork.

By publishing products on the Marketplace you grant Zazzle permission (license) to display that product on our website, and in off-site advertising (if desired). You also grant users permission to manipulate the contents of the product so that they can customize the design (if desired). Finally, as noted at the time, Collaborations and Zazzle LIVE sessions do not provide the users with any special privileges. This means that they cannot magically download designs from products you've published in the marketplace, and they cannot edit a product if you've disabled editing during publish.

Happy to try and answer any further questions, but I'm not really a time machine so I can't answer too much about what happened back in 2019. Again, my recollection as someone who's been testing new features is that the text in the terms was largely the issue, and not the actual features on the website. I'd suggest rereading the latest terms on our site and check back if there's questions.

The references to downloading are largely from our newly added (at the time) features that allow users to use the design tool to create a digital work, then download the design. You can try that out here: https://www.zazzle.com/create/designtool

[MCMGal]

Hi Shelli - I remember you from when I was active on Zazzle years ago. I am glad that I am not the only one with concerns. It was worded in such a way that after a month of communications with Zazzle reps that I could not get any assurances that the art I uploaded was safe that I shut down over 2,000 products and 10 years of work on 3+ Zazzle stores. I cringe when I think of starting all over, But I still want to have the available customization tools available for my Christmas greeting cards.

[idraw]

This may help clarify--
Product "Customization" Explained

https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/219543148
----------
When creating a product--
You have the option to choose

Make product a template?* (?)

choose yes or no

(choose yes to personalize, can enter name and/or text)

and also

Show "Customize it" button?* (?)

choose yes or no
(from Zazzle help)

When "Customization" is enabled, users can:

• Remove text and/or images from the design
• Alter the image size/orientation/placement (using controls provided in the design tool)
• Alter the text size/orientation/placement/color/font
• Change the layering of design elements (adjusting which is "in front of" or "behind" other elements)
• Add Text and/or images not included in the original design

"Customization" does not include:

• The ability to download or edit the original image file itself, only to adjust its usage in the design tool
• The ability to transfer designs from one product to another 

[shellifitz]

Thanks Scott,  I understood already about the downloads.  

This is the part I think that had needed to be clarified and is and I hope also answers Dianas' concerns regarding the Collaboration clause.  

Section  "6.1.7.2. COLLABORATORS DO NOT OBTAIN ANY COPYRIGHTS TO PUBLIC PRODUCTS THAT MAY BE USED IN A COLLABORATION.

This answers my own question too. 

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[Ms_Contrary]

Thank you, Shelli, for finding that. I was pretty sure that had to be in the terms somewhere, but you saved me a hunt for it. 🙂