Zazzle deleted product that does NOT violate rules!

[TheDesignerVib1]

Hi! I had recently noticed that Zazzle removed one of my top selling invitations, for literally no reason! The invitation does not violate any rules, nor does it contain copyrighted elements.

So why did Zazzle delete it?? Here is a picture of what is looks like 

[Jadendreamer13]

A search of USPTO reveals that your smiley face is trademarked.

[Echo]

Good thing they took it down for you. Recently, there has been many POD designers getting sued for using the smiley face. It is copyrighted. 

[BN_Stationery]

Have you asked them for more details. I’ve had products removed for a tag I wasn’t aware of violated someone’s copyright. (Nevermind now  I’m seeing others responses once I logged in to post my comment)

[Lais]

Most people don't know but these happy faces are copyrighted/trademarked, they belong to a company called Smiley. 

[Cat]

The words "smiley face" are also trademarked and you cannot use them in a product title, description, or tags.

[TheDesignerVib1]

Thank you all so much for answering! 

I didn't know that because, one it is a trend and true lots of POD Designers use it, and second it was from Canva which I know that must people upload their artwork for others to use (and get paid when you use their elements) and Canva is strict on copyrighted elements so that didn't come to my mind at all, one again thank you all! 🙂

@Cat @Echo @BN_Stationery @Jadendreamer13 @Lais 

[Echo]

I didn’t know the smiley face was trademarked too until a few months ago when many people from Etsy, Redbubble, and other POD platforms got sued. They didn’t go after the companies, they went after the designers.

[Cat]

Eee Gads! Glad Zazzle is protecting us from that sort of thing!

[Lais]

Are you sure you can use Canva elements here on Zazzle? I always read carefully each websites' licenses. I haven't read Canvas'. But I know that when people sell Canva designs on Etsy, for example, they have to redirect people to Canva website.

[tiffjamaica]

I'm also leery of using Canva elements here at Zazzle. Several years ago I read the fine print from Canva and Zazzle and emailed back and forth with both companies to get a clear answer.  To make a long story short, I never got a clear answer from Canva and Zazzle didn't even respond to me about it.  There's tricky wording specifically with the "sublicense" of designs. (Canva doesn't allow it, and Zazzle's terms say your designs give them the right to sublicense... this conflicts in my head, so I stay away from using Canva elements for selling.) 
The Canva rep I emailed with also said you have to change the designs to make them your own. You can't sell stand alone graphics. 
Take all of this with a grain of salt because I'm in no way a legal expert on any of this and it was 3 or 4 years ago! 

[Lais]

Not to discourage you, but I believe Canva images may not be allowed to be used on digital invitations here on Zazzle because of this line in their license agreement:

- incorporate the Content in any product that results in a re-distribution or re-use of the content or is otherwise made available in a manner such that a person can extract or access or reproduce the content as an electronic file; (see Section 9 Prohibited uses, line 10)

[almdrs]

Stay away from smiling faces: 😜

"The Smiley Company is a brand licensing company, based in London, United Kingdom. It holds the rights to the smiley face in over ***100 countries***".

"Walmart's Smiley is back after 10 years and a lawsuit

Walmart is bringing back its famous Smiley face icon after a 10-year hiatus and lengthy legal battle.
"We felt like it was time to bring back an old friend, and one of the most-recognized symbols of low price ... Smiley," said Walmart Chief Marketing Officer Tony Rogers in a blog post.

Smiley -- a minimalist image of the classic yellow smiley face -- was used by Walmart (WMT)from 1990 to 2006 to alert shoppers to deals. The character had grown increasingly ubiquitous and complex over the years, sometimes sporting a hard hat, a bow tie, and Robin Hood and Zorro costumes.

But in 2006, Smiley faded away.

"He didn't fit in with our advertising at the time. We were taking a different approach," Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt told CNNMoney. "He has been used intermittently, but he hasn't been an active part of our advertising."

Smiley was also involved in a trademark war with a Belgian designer named Franklin Loufrani, president of The Smiley Company in Brussels, which bills itself as "the original Smiley brand." Loufrani claims to have created the Smiley design in 1972, and has registered it in more than 100 countries."

... (CNN, Money - 2016)

"Amazon's smiley" (Serial Number: 88846455):

*DESCRIPTION OF THE MARK
(and Color Location, if applicable) The mark consists of a curved arrow pointing to the right in the shape of a smile.

[plumb4me]

The word "smiley" is trademarked, so if you used the "smiley" in the title, description, tag or anything like that, Zazzle will delete the product. 

"INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, SOFTWARE AND CONTENT

“Smiley” name and associated logo are registered trademarks owned by the Smiley Company SPRL, a company registered in Belgium, with a registered office at Avenue Louise 523, 1050 Brussels. We also acknowledge the existence of the following other labels: “Smiley-Happy Collection”, “Smiley-Happy Therapy”, “Smiley-Happy Decor”, “Smiley-Happy Travel” “Smiley-Happy Denim”, “Smiley-Happy Deluxe”, “Smiley-Happy Cashmere”, “Smiley-Happy Sports”, Smiley-Happy Photos”, “Smiley-Happy Time”, “Smiley-Happy Vision”, “Smiley Society”, “SmileyWorld” and “Smiley by Ora Ito”. SmileyWorld Ltd has been granted all rights to exploit all products bearing these trademarks and others labels."

[igiftcenter]

I highly recommend that designers in the US check by search for trademarks or risk being sued:
Also note: if you download "free images" from sites that offer free images be very careful. Just because someone uploads and image to a free image site does NOT make it ok to use it. You still have to do your due diligence and check on the image. 
Here is the link to the US trademark search . If my link is obstructed by Z  just follow the link address  to uspto.gov and go to the trademark search area

https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search

instructions on how to find a US trademark in search
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search/using-trademark-electronic-search-system