Shein loses UK copyright lawsuit against Temu as judge rules it lacked photo rights

Court rejects Shein's infringement claims

Shein alleged that Temu used 2,559 of its product photographs to advertise copies of Shein's own-brand clothing, calling the practice copyright infringement "on an industrial scale." The images comprised 2,285 photos taken by Shein staff, 263 supplied by external manufacturers, and 11 shot by freelancers or marketing agencies. Shein formally wrote to Temu in June 2023 demanding removal, then pursued High Court litigation through Roadget Business, its parent company. The trial opened in May 2026.

Judge finds Shein lacked copyright ownership

Mrs Justice Bacon concluded that Shein UK did not possess copyright for the staff photographs at the point it issued its demand, because those workers were employed by Chinese affiliate Guangzhou Shein rather than the UK entity. Shein UK only secured a licence granting rights to the pictures through an agreement completed on 19 July 2023, weeks after the takedown notice. The judge also found Shein UK did not know whether it owned the copyright for the supplier, freelancer or agency photographs. She accepted that Temu did not authorise copyright infringement by users of its website, nor did it know or have reason to believe the photographs infringed Shein's copyright.

There is no doubt that Temu is aware that some of the photographs uploaded by merchants may infringe copyright. There is, however, nothing in the evidence before the court to suggest that the Temu platform incorporates tools specifically intended to facilitate the uploading of infringing images, or that Temu encourages or promotes the use of infringing images.

Temu wins counterclaim

After Shein's letter and two court orders, Temu removed "thousands" of product listings from its website. Whaleco UK, which operates Temu, brought a counterclaim arguing these removals caused financial loss and that Shein was deliberately trying to stifle a competitor. Mrs Justice Bacon accepted that there was no copyright infringement and that Temu did suffer loss. The compensation amount will be determined at a further trial. A separate trial scheduled for November in a specialist court will decide whether Shein UK was stifling competition.

Shein disputes ruling

Following the judgment, Shein said it disagreed with the court's "narrow interpretation of a complex and evolving area of law." A company spokesperson said the outcome was surprising and risked creating one standard for online platforms whose servers are outside the UK and another for the rest. Shein noted that its UK-facing servers are hosted in Ireland, which the company argued affected the legal analysis.

We do not believe that this is the correct outcome for brands and rights holders seeking to protect their copyright online.

IPO timing and wider dispute

The ruling arrives weeks before Shein's planned Hong Kong IPO. The company, once valued at roughly $100 billion in 2022, now targets a valuation of around $30 billion. According to anonymous Bloomberg sources, Shein expects to begin receiving investor orders on 20 August and debut around 28 August, potentially raising between $2 billion and $3 billion. Both the valuation and the calendar remain subject to change. Beyond the UK, Shein and Temu are also suing each other in US courts over competition, trade secrets and other commercial practices. Temu is owned by PDD Holdings.