Yesterday in the House of Common, Rachael Maskell, asked Chris Bryant, Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism a Parliamentary Question on behalf of her constituents, Amanda and Frank Mountain, a husband-and-wife team who run Lola Design, a small business in York; dedicated to creating original, design-led products which are sold both domestically and internationally. The small business employs local staff, freelancers, and suppliers and relies on the integrity of the designs for their livelihood.
Amanda, creative artist and Director of Lola, came to see Rachael Maskell MP with Frank to explain that many of the designs, some of which take hours and hours of work, are being stolen by the internet low-cost e-commerce sites, Shein and Temu, which then import low-cost copies to countries across the globe. Shein and Temu have connections with China where the products are made, and the costs are low. This is because people are exploited and there are very few regulations in place.
Rachael’s Maskell’s question is shown here together with the response from Chris Bryant.
Rachael Maskell MP:
My constituent Amanda Mountain is a phenomenal artist, painting the most outstanding designs and then placing them on stationery. However, Temu and SHEIN are ripping off her work, and many artists’ work, in breach of intellectual property controls. They are undercutting her business, at serious cost to her. What steps will the Minister take to protect artists and their businesses, and ensure that online retailers are held to account?
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, (Chris Bryant MP):
Copyright and the protection of artists’ moral and economic rights is an absolutely essential part of ensuring that they are properly remunerated for their creativity. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the copyright regime remains, is strong, and is strongly enforced.
Amanda Mountain says:
“As an artist, my work is not just a product; it’s a piece of me, hours of passion, skill, and dedication. To see my designs stolen and mass-produced by companies like Temu and Shein is devastating, not just for our business but for the integrity of creative industries everywhere. We’ve lost over £100,000 to these unethical practices, and every time we take action, the stolen designs just reappear. We need the Government to step in and ensure UK businesses like ours are protected. This isn’t just about our livelihood it’s about standing up for originality, fairness, and the value of creativity.”
Rachael Maskell MP says:
“My constituents Amanda and Frank Mountain run a small and successful design-led business, Lola Design Ltd. trading domestically and internationally. Amanda is a talented artist producing original paintings which are then scanned onto stationary and greeting cards for sale through retail outlets and online. It is unacceptable for her work to be plagiarised by copyists, taking her designs, scanning them onto their own stationary and then retailing them through the online sites Temu and Shein at significantly lower prices. She has lost around £100,000 of business due to this including £24,000 on just one design.
“We need the Government to ensure that safeguards are in place to protect local businesses like Lola. Amanda has told me that she has made claims against Temu with details of her Intellectual Property and artwork. The fake products are taken down from the website, only to appear a few weeks later. This is happening on an industrial scale. Apart from Artists losing significant income, this will also be reflected with income loss to the Treasury. If there are shortfalls in the Budget this then affects every single one of us. This theft has to stop, and I want the Government to step in to help my constituents and the many others like them who are having their work stolen in this way.”
Pictured from left to right: Frank Mountain, Rachael Maskell MP, Amanda Mountain.