Shein has lost its High Court copyright case against rival Temu over the alleged use of its product photographs.
It had accused Temu of infringing its copyright “on an industrial scale”, claiming merchants on the marketplace had used photographs of Shein’s own-brand clothing to help sell competing products.
However, Mrs Justice Kelyn Bacon rejected Shein’s argument that Temu was liable for the alleged infringements and ruled that the PDD Holdings-owned marketplace had not authorised merchants to breach Shein’s copyright.
The judge also found that, even if copyright infringement had been established, Temu could have relied on a legal defence available to online hosting platforms because it acted as an intermediary and did not have sufficient knowledge of any infringement by sellers using its site.
Shein had initially alleged that Temu itself reproduced its photographs, but did not pursue that part of its case at trial because Temu’s servers are based outside the UK and any reproduction therefore took place beyond the country’s jurisdiction.
It said following the ruling that it maintained ownership of thousands of photographs that had appeared on Temu, but criticised the legal interpretation that allowed its rival to avoid liability because the servers supporting its UK site are located in Ireland.
Temu did not immediately comment on the decision.
The High Court also upheld a counterclaim from Temu seeking damages over product listings it had been forced to remove after Shein secured an injunction relating to images for which it did not own the copyright.
The ruling is the latest development in an ongoing global legal battle between the two ecommerce businesses, which have rapidly expanded internationally by offering low-cost fashion, accessories and other goods.
Their UK dispute is not over yet. Temu’s separate claim that Shein breached competition law by allegedly tying suppliers into exclusive arrangements is due to go to trial in 2027.
Shein is still pursuing a Hong Kong stock market listing that could value the company at around £22.2bn.
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