Intellectual Property Policy

Last updated: June 12, 2026

Ownership Principles

ArtizIQ operates a multi-sided marketplace connecting independent artisans, resellers who publish products on their own sales channels, and end consumers who purchase through those channels. As a matter of first principle, ArtizIQ does not claim ownership of user-submitted content. Copyright, design rights, trademarks, trade dress, moral rights, and neighbouring rights in any artwork, photograph, product blank, product description, or creative input submitted to the platform remain with their respective rightsholders.

This Intellectual Property Policy ("Policy") forms an integral part of our Terms of Service and must be read together with our Privacy Policy. Capitalized terms not defined here have the meaning assigned in the Terms of Service. In case of conflict between this Policy and the Terms of Service, the Terms of Service prevail, except with respect to takedown and counter-notice procedures, where this Policy controls.

By uploading, submitting, or making content available through the platform, each user represents and warrants that (i) they own the content or hold all licences, consents, and permissions required to submit it, (ii) the content does not infringe any third-party intellectual property, publicity, or privacy right, and (iii) the content complies with applicable laws in all jurisdictions where it will be made available. Users who cannot make these representations must not submit the content.

Artisan Intellectual Property

Artisans retain full ownership of their product blanks, base designs, reference photography, product samples, craftsmanship know-how, and any moulds, patterns, or templates uploaded to the platform. Under applicable copyright law, handcrafted objects may qualify as protectable works of authorship, and any moral rights recognized by the law of the author's jurisdiction remain with the author and are non-transferable by operation of that law.

By listing a blank in our catalogue, an artisan grants ArtizIQ a limited, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to (i) host, cache, and display the blank and its reference imagery within the platform, (ii) transmit the blank metadata and images to sellers browsing the catalogue, and (iii) use anonymized blank imagery in platform-level marketing of the catalogue itself. This licence is revocable at any time by removing the blank from the catalogue, subject only to a reasonable wind-down period for orders already in production.

Artisans do not grant sellers or ArtizIQ the right to manufacture derivatives, register designs, file trademarks, or otherwise assert ownership over the underlying work. Any attempt to do so by a seller is a material breach of the Terms of Service.

Seller Intellectual Property

Sellers retain full ownership of the artwork, prints, logos, store branding, product titles, descriptions, and marketing copy they upload or author. Sellers are solely responsible for securing any rights necessary to reproduce third-party content (including stock imagery, licensed characters, typefaces, and user-generated content) on products manufactured through the platform.

By submitting a design to be applied to an artisan blank, the seller grants ArtizIQ and the assigned artisan a limited licence to reproduce the design solely for the purpose of fulfilling the specific order or order batch to which it relates. This licence terminates upon delivery of the order, except to the extent retention is required by our Privacy Policy or applicable law (e.g., tax records, dispute evidence).

Sellers may not reproduce, redistribute, or sublicense artisan blanks, reference photography, or artisan-authored product descriptions outside the sales channels they have connected to the platform and in respect of which the artisan has granted an active photo licence (see Photo Licence Specifics).

Platform Intellectual Property

The ArtizIQ name, logo, the artiziq.com domain, the platform's user interface, source code, database schemas, API specifications, machine-learning models, algorithmic matching logic, and all documentation are owned by ArtizIQ or licensed to us. These are protected under the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C.), U.S. trademark law (the Lanham Act), and corresponding intellectual-property laws in other jurisdictions.

No part of this Policy grants any user a right to use ArtizIQ's trademarks, trade names, or service marks except as strictly necessary to identify the platform in accordance with honest practices in industrial and commercial matters. All goodwill generated by such use inures to ArtizIQ.

License Grants Summary

The platform operates on a chain of narrow, purpose-limited licences rather than broad content transfers:

Each licence is independent. Termination or breach of one does not automatically terminate the others, but may give rise to separate remedies.

Photo License Specifics

Product photography produced by artisans is governed by an explicit, per-channel, per-listing licence flow. When a seller adds an artisan blank to a listing, the "Add to Listings" modal requires the seller to review which photographs the artisan has authorized for that specific sales channel (e.g., Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop) and to affirmatively check a confirmation stating that the seller will use only artisan-authorized photographs and only on the channel selected.

The licence is:

The acceptance event (timestamp, seller identifier, channel, listing, photo set, IP address) is logged and retained as contractual evidence of a legally binding electronic agreement under the U.S. ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001) and applicable electronic-transactions law.

DMCA Notice and Takedown

ArtizIQ operates a notice-and-takedown procedure under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c). To qualify for and maintain safe-harbor protection, ArtizIQ designates an agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement, as registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

A valid DMCA notice must include: (i) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the rightsholder; (ii) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed; (iii) identification of the allegedly infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to locate it (e.g., a URL on the platform or on a connected seller channel traceable to platform-hosted content); (iv) the complainant's contact information; (v) a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorized; and (vi) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and the complainant is authorized to act.

Send notices to the contact point listed in the Contact section. Upon receipt of a facially valid notice, we will expeditiously remove or disable access to the material and notify the user who posted it. Material misrepresentations in a notice may result in liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

EU Rightsholder Notices

For rightsholders in the European Union, we accept notices under the hosting-provider liability framework of Article 14 of the e-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC and, where applicable to the operational configuration of the service, Article 17 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright in the Digital Single Market. Notices should identify the protected work, the location of the material, the legal basis of the claim, and the contact details of the rightsholder or their authorized representative.

We commit to act expeditiously on receipt of a sufficiently substantiated notice and to put in place proportionate measures to prevent reappearance of the same content where the rightsholder has provided the relevant and necessary information. Users whose content is removed will be informed and may submit a counter-notice (see Counter-Notices).

Repeat Infringer Policy

ArtizIQ maintains and enforces a policy for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of the accounts of users who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, consistent with 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A). In practice, a user who accumulates three (3) unresolved, facially valid infringement complaints within a rolling twelve (12) month period is subject to account suspension. A user who has been permanently terminated may not open a new account.

We consider the totality of circumstances, including the nature and severity of the infringement, the user's history of counter-notices, and evidence of bad-faith complaints, before making a termination decision.

Trademark Complaints

Trademark holders who believe their marks are being used on the platform without authorization may submit a complaint including: (i) the registered mark, jurisdiction, and registration number; (ii) the goods/services classes claimed; (iii) a description of the allegedly infringing use; (iv) a link or identifier locating the use on the platform; and (v) a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized by the rightsholder, its agent, or the law.

We evaluate trademark complaints under the applicable jurisdiction, with particular regard to the U.S. Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1114, § 1125) and applicable trademark law in other jurisdictions where rightsholders assert their marks. Nominative fair use, descriptive use, and exhaustion of rights are considered before takedown.

Counter-Notices

A user whose content has been removed or disabled may submit a counter-notice. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3), a counter-notice must contain: (i) the user's signature; (ii) identification of the material removed and its location before removal; (iii) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the user has a good-faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification; and (iv) the user's contact information and consent to the jurisdiction of the competent court.

On receipt of a valid counter-notice, we will forward it to the complainant. If the complainant does not notify us within ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing activity, we may restore the material.

Contact for Intellectual Property Notices

All intellectual property notices, counter-notices, and related correspondence must be sent to our designated IP contact. Postal address: ArtizIQ LLC, Attn: IP Notices, Houston, Texas, USA. Electronic address: ip@artiziq.com. We recommend electronic submission for fastest processing. Notices that do not substantially comply with the requirements in this Policy may be ignored or returned for correction, without prejudice to the rightsholder's ability to resubmit.

Generic support requests sent to the IP contact address may be deprioritized. For non-IP matters, please use the channels described in the Terms of Service.