Hello -

I’m a small seller. My account was deactivated on April 21 and I’ve been trying to get it reactivated ever since. I’ve submitted several appeals but keep getting the same exact response back. With each denial I’ve called seller support for help, done exactly what they suggest, but still get denied. Following are: 1/ initial notification, 2/ my most recent appeal, and the 3/ last response from Amazon. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

1/ INITIAL NOTIFICATION:

Hello,

Your Amazon selling account has been deactivated. Your listings have been removed. Funds will not be transferred to you but will be held in your account while we work with you to address this issue. Please ship any open orders to avoid further impact to your account.

Why did this happen?
We arrived at this decision because your account has received multiple intellectual property violations and we did not receive any new information regarding your listings or selling history.

ASIN: B0842BNP9X (Copyright), B07HHWZKQQ (Copyright), B07HHXPVJJ (Copyright), B07HHWG5G3 (Copyright), B07HHWPPSR (Copyright), B07HHWZNYT (Copyright), B07GYZJQ95 (Copyright), B07GRDBMY5 (Copyright), B07DQRL965 (Copyright), B07DQNG7WG (Copyright).

You can view your account performance and more details on the ASIN(s) at (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?reftag=email_block) or select Account Health on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app on your iOS or Android device. The Account Health dashboard shows how well your account is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon.

We’re here to help.
If you need help better understanding what is causing this, please search for “Intellectual Property Violations” in Seller Central Help (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/201361070).

How do I reactivate my account?
To reactivate your selling account, please send us the following:
A plan of action that explains:
– The root cause(s).
– The actions you have taken to resolve the notices of infringement or violation of Amazon’s policies.
– The steps you have taken to prevent infringement or violating Amazon’s policies.

If you believe your account was deactivated in error, follow the instructions at the bottom of the Reactivate Your Account page and provide following information:
– An explanation of why the deactivation should be reversed.
– Evidence supporting your belief that this was an error.

For security reasons, we only accept attachments in the following file formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .pjpeg, .gif, .png, .tiff. These documents must be authentic and unaltered.

How do I send the required information?
Please submit this information by clicking the “Reactivate your account” button on Account Health (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard).

What happens if I do not send the requested information?
If we do not receive the requested information, your account will remain deactivated and funds in your account may be held for 90 days or longer. Depending on your account status and activities, you may be required to complete an additional review before funds can be released. Amazon may withhold payments if we determine that your account was used to sell inauthentic or prohibited goods, commit fraud, or engage in other illegal or abusive activity.

2/ MY MOST RECENT APPEAL

Dear Amazon Seller Support Team –

Thank you for allowing me to provide more detailed information on the steps I have taken to address the recent intellectual property complaints I received that led to my account being deactivated, and more thoroughly explain the changes I have implemented to insure I don’t receive further violations in the future. I’m hoping the following provides enough information to reactivate my account as soon as possible.

– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.

On April 12 I received intellectual property complaints due to Copyright on Product Detail Page on the following ASINs:
B0842BNP9X (Copyright), B07HHWZKQQ (Copyright), B07HHXPVJJ (Copyright), B07HHWG5G3 (Copyright), B07HHWPPSR (Copyright), B07HHWZNYT (Copyright),
B07GYZJQ95 (Copyright), B07GRDBMY5 (Copyright)

Amazon removed images that were not mine and protected by copyright.

The root cause of all infringements was my use of the manufacturer’s copyrighted images.

I started selling on Amazon in February, 2017. At that time I only sold ****** clothing and created all of my own listings. I mistakenly thought that if I had approval to sell a brand I also had approval to use the copyrighted images.

I received intellectual property complaints on other ****** ASINs several months ago. At that time I searched my inventory for “******” ASINs and replaced images that were not mine with new images that are mine. I somehow missed the ASINs listed above which resulted in the current intellectual property complaints.

Regretfully I did not take the violation seriously and didn’t respond immediately because I thought a BOT was finding violations in error. (I had recently received similar violation notifications for ASINs that contained photos I had taken myself, and ASINs that were no longer active and had been deleted before receiving a violation.)

– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve the infringement issues.

1/ Immediately removed/deleted all ASINs that received intellectual property complaints.

2/ All infringement issues were for clothing from the ****** brand. In addition to deleting the ASINs that received violations, I have deleted ALL ****** brand clothing ASINs as an extra precaution that there will be no further infringement violations.

3/ Reviewed Seller University, paying special attention to:
• “Understanding Our Listing Guidelines”
• “Products Requiring Approval”
• “Guidelines to Source Products to Sell on Amazon”
• “Introduction to Listing Products”
• “Overview of Amazon’s Seller Policies”

4/ Reviewed Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy for Sellers

5/ As suggested by Amazon support rep I reviewed the USPTO website, including “Copyright Basics”

6/ As suggested by another Amazon support rep I reviewed the copyright.gov website

7/ Googled “Avoiding Copyright Infringement”, “Best Business Practices Copyright Infringement”, “Copyright Laws For Business People” online and read relevant articles

The most significant things I learned from the above:
• Assume all images are protected by copyright, even if not stated
• Authorization to sell an item is not the same as authorization to use the corresponding images – written authorization for both is required
• Sellers can get intellectual property infringement notifications on ASINs that re no longer active
• Intellectual property law can be complicated and to contact an attorney for legal guidance when necessary

8 / Based on what I learned I then reviewed all ASINs in my inventory to ensure they are not infringing on others’ rights

– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.

Based on what I learned I will incorporate the following corrective measures to ensure I don’t receive future violations:

1/ I will not relist any ****** ASINs previously in my inventory, or create any new ****** ASINs

2/ Before acquiring new inventory to sell on Amazon I will:

• search the copyright public records portal
• search for products that are protected or branded and not available for selling using Google Patent search engine
• conduct thorough check on potential suppliers to make sure they are trusted and reliable
• work closely with the supplier before creating any new ASINs to verify that the products do not violate any intellectual property rights
• research each ASIN to insure Amazon’s policies are met
• get supplier’s written authorization before creating new ASINs
• get supplier’s written authorization to use any copyright images, description
• use my own original images and descriptions when necessary
• not list an ASIN if there is any doubt a violation may exist

3/ I will keep myself up-to-date on any new Amazon policies to make sure I am not in violation of any Amazon rules and that all ASINs are in compliance

4/ If I do receive a notification for any kind of violation in the future I will take it seriously and address it immediately

Please provide any one of the below documents for proving authenticity of your listings:
– A DMCA compliant counter-notice, if applicable. A DMCA counter-notice is valid only for copyright notices received in the US.
– A letter of authorization (LOA) or licensing agreement (LA) from the rights owner indicating that you are authorized to use their intellectual property. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.”

All ASINs that received intellectual property complaints (and all other ****** ASINs that were in my inventory) were acquired more than 365 days ago so are outdated and have been deleted. Since I will no longer sell ****** on Amazon I have not attempted to obtain an LOA or LA from the rights owner authorizing me to use their intellectual property going forward.

As an Amazon seller since February, 2017 with 100% positive feedback and 100% perfect account health in all other areas I am hopeful my appeal will be approved allowing me to resume my selling privileges on Amazon in the near future.

Thank you –

3/ LAST RESPONSE FROM AMAZON
Hello,

Thank you for submitting your plan of action. We reviewed your appeal but do not have enough information to reactivate your account at this time because it is missing the following information. Please include the missing information listed below in your plan of action:
– Greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement.
– Greater detail on the actions you have taken to resolve the infringement issues.
– Greater detail on the steps you have taken to prevent infringement going forward.

Please provide any one of the below documents for proving authenticity of your listings:
– A DMCA compliant counter-notice, if applicable. A DMCA counter-notice is valid only for copyright notices received in the US.
– A letter of authorization (LOA) or licensing agreement (LA) from the rights owner indicating that you are authorized to use their intellectual property. You can find the contact information of the rights owner in the listing deactivation communication you have received.

Has your account been deactivated in error?
If you believe there has been an error, please tell us why. Your explanation should include an explanation for how your account has not violated the brand’s intellectual property along with documents mentioned above to support authenticity.

Where do I send this information?
Please submit your appeal to reactivate account by clicking the “Reactivate your account” button on Account Health (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_mpa). If you want to submit additional information, click on the “View appeal” button and submit additional information as requested.

What happens if I do not send the requested information?
If you do not send the requested information within 20 days, your account may be deactivated permanently across all marketplaces in the region of your enforcement. Funds in your account may be held for up to 90 days or longer depending upon the marketplace. Depending on your account status and activities, you may be required to complete an additional review before funds can be released. In some marketplaces–such as Japan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt–funds may not be returned depending on review. Amazon may withhold payments if we determine that your account was used to sell inauthentic or prohibited goods, commit fraud, or engage in other illegal or abusive activity.

What is my region?
You can identify your region based on the marketplace where you are suspended.
– The following marketplaces are in the Americas region: United States of America, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.
– The following marketplaces are in the Europe, Middle East, and India regions: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and India.
– The following marketplaces are in the Far East region: Japan, Australia, and Singapore.

You can see your balance and settlement information in the Payments section of Seller Central. If you have questions about those, please send an email to payments-funds@amazon.com.

You can view your account performance (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/performance/dashboard?ref=ah_em_mpa) or select Account Health on the home screen of the Amazon Seller app on your iOS or Android device. The Account Health dashboard shows how well your account is performing against the performance metrics and policies required to sell on Amazon.
– iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazon-seller/id794141485
– Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.sellermobile.android&hl=en_US
Sincerely, Amazon.com

Note: When I called for help from seller support I’m told I need to provide greater detail on the root cause(s) of the infringement, greater detail on the actions taken, and greater detail on the steps you taken to prevent infringement going forward. Nothing is said about needing more concerning a DMCA compliant counter-notice or LOA or LA.

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.