Ojibway artist says her designs are being replicated on Orange Shirt Day T-shirts, sold online

An Ojibway visual artist in Winnipeg says her original designs are being stolen and used on Orange Shirt Day T-shirts that are being sold on social media and e-commerce websites in time for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

"They're stealing from Indigenous artists and profiting off our trauma. That's just disgusting," said Jackie Traverse.

Traverse says this has been happening more frequently in the days leading up to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. Also known as Orange Shirt Day, the day is meant to reflect on the impacts of the residential school system in Canada.

Traverse says she recently noticed two Facebook posts advertising orange T-shirts with her original designs on them, used without her permission. Traverse says she has tried contacting the pages in question with no success, and commenting on the posts has garnered no response.

"I've been watermarking my work, but they remove my name. Sometimes they don't even remove the watermark but put something over top of my name," she said.

"They don't even take notice that you're saying, 'It's stolen artwork' or 'It's this artist's work and that artist never gave permission,'" she said. "They don't care."

CBC News reached out to the sellers in question, but has yet to receive a response.

Combating sellers 'like whack-a-mole'

Traverse says a few years ago, she created a shareable poster to combat design theft, which got a lot of traction. But she said there were still many websites popping up a month before Orange Shirt Day, trying to sell as many T-shirts as they can. 

Some people claimed that they had ordered shirts online but never received them, she said. Traverse calls these scam sites that use Indigenous names or feature things meant to target an Indigenous audience.

"A lot of people don't know that these aren't even Indigenous people running these pages. They're just copying and pasting stories about Indigenous people," she said.

WATCH | Designs showing up on T-shirts sold online, artist says:

Artist says online T-shirt sellers are using her designs without her consent

2 months ago

Duration 2:05

Jackie Traverse, an Ojibway artist based in Winnipeg, says her original designs are being stolen and used on Orange Shirt Day T-shirts that are being sold on social media and e-commerce websites in time for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.

Traverse says she had an acquaintance who used to send cease-and-desist letters to these companies, but similar websites would appear soon after.

"It's like whack-a-mole," said Traverse. "You just can't really fight against it." 

Wayne Mason Jr., the director of operations with Wa-Say Healing Centre in Winnipeg, organizes an Orange Shirt Day healing walk every Sept. 30. He says the day is very important to honour residential school survivors.

Mason says Traverse has donated a lot of her artwork to his organization over the years, so it's difficult to hear that her work is being stolen and other people are profiting off of it.

"So when they are trying to be a part of society and trying to earn an income in a good way, and then they see that they're being taken advantage of, it's disappointing," he said.

Mason says he sympathizes with Indigenous artists like Traverse who have to deal with online sellers replicating their art without their consent.

"Artists put a lot of time and effort into creating these works of art," he said. "To see that people are not seeking their permission to use their work or give them some credit, I can understand that they have to be upset." 

Legal protections, rights for artists

Julia Ryckman, a lawyer with Winnipeg-based firm Fillmore Riley who specializes in intellectual property, entertainment and technology law, says there are two rights that artists are granted under the Copyright Act in Canada.

The first is the right to control reproductions, which grants the copyright owner the ability to control the making of a copy or duplicate of the work, she explained.

The second is called a moral right.

"It's the right to be attributed as the author or the artist of their work, or to remain anonymous if they choose, and then also the right to prevent any sort of damage to their reputation as the artist," said Ryckman.

Ryckman says artists should always put a copyright notice on their artwork when they post it online or on social media. This might not prevent infringement, but can provide that extra bit of information to the public where you put your name, year and indicate that all rights are reserved.

"I see some social media owners of artistic works choosing to put their works in videos rather than permanent posts, for the pure reason that those videos are less permanent and providing a more narrow scope of time where an infringer could get have their hands on," she said.

Ryckman says artists should also educate their audience about their copyright and the fact that someone may use their artwork without their permission.

"Especially with Indigenous artworks, every consumer can make a difference by doing a little bit of research about what they're actually buying and where it's coming from," she said.