Lonely Kids Club founder Warwick Levy says an apparent AI-enabled scrape of his site copied roughly 4,000 products — descriptions, mock-ups and photos — and produced thousands of near-identical knockoffs on Temu between 2025 and early 2026. Levy says trademark complaints were more effective than copyright notices in removing listings, while Temu says it took action after reports through its IP Protection Portal. The case underscores enforcement challenges for small brands and raises questions about policy decisions that could expand AI access to online content.
Sydney Label Says AI-Enabled Scrape Copied 4,000 Designs — Thousands Of Knockoffs Flood Temu
Photo Credit: Getty Images
A Sydney clothing brand, Lonely Kids Club, says thousands of counterfeit shirts appeared on e-commerce platform Temu after what its founder believes was an AI-enabled scrape of the company's website. The founder traced thousands of nearly identical listings published between 2025 and early 2026 that appear to replicate product descriptions, mock-ups and photography from the brand's catalogue.
What Happened
Founder Warwick Levy told The Guardian he discovered extensive copies of his designs on Temu and identified 'thousands' of infringing listings that matched items from the label's catalogue of about 4,000 products. Levy said the scale and fidelity of the reproductions suggested an automated process: 'We have a catalogue of 4,000 products … all of those products were there with our exact item descriptions, our exact brand name, like everything, even our exact mock-ups that we've created and our own product photography that we've taken.'
Enforcement Challenges
The episode highlights how hard it is for small brands to enforce intellectual property rights at scale. While Australian law automatically protects original work under copyright, Levy said trademark complaints — because sellers used the 'Lonely Kids Club' name — were more effective than copyright takedowns in getting listings removed. He also described repeated 'roadblocks' when trying to report listings, saying standard reporting forms failed or closed and direct emails produced little response.
Platform Response
Temu told The Guardian that the listings were removed after Lonely Kids Club reported them through the platform's IP Protection Portal. A company spokesperson said: 'We have promptly removed the listings in question following Lonely Kids Club's reports through our IP Protection Portal, and have added the brand's works to our IP Protection database for ongoing monitoring.' Temu added that sellers who breach its intellectual property policies may have listings removed, accounts suspended, or be permanently banned.
Broader Stakes
Levy warned that any government move to give AI companies broader access to Australians' content — a policy under consideration — could be 'devastating' for creators if large-scale scraping becomes normalized. He said Lonely Kids Club does not use generative AI to create its designs, but believes AI likely played a role in reproducing the entire catalogue so quickly.
'It's pretty gut-wrenching to see that your work is now making so much money for other people that you don't know, [who have] just stolen your work,' Levy said.
This case sits within a wider debate about fast-fashion platforms, counterfeit goods and the role of AI in creative industries. Recent coverage has included lawsuits alleging counterfeits on Temu, controversies over fast-fashion marketing, and discussions about AI-generated content and model replacement in fashion campaigns.
What Levy Wants: clearer, more reliable takedown processes, stronger monitoring to prevent wholesale copying of creative catalogues, and policy safeguards that protect creators from mass automated scraping.
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