Copyright/Trademark "Issue" from That Annoying Redbubble Journey Guy

Hey all

Thought about posting this in my journey, but figured I'd get the broader public opinion on this one.

So I just got dinged on my Redbubble account for copyright infringement. This not only deleted the few works that were claimed to be infringing, but they also temporarily suspended my account in order for me to "go through my collection and make sure nothing else is infringing."

Truth is, I was pretty certain I looked into all trademarks and copyrights before posting anything. I used Fiverr for my designs, using the exact information I requested the design with. I used character names, that aren't copywritten to my knowledge, and created fake company names with slogans - so to use an admittedly lame example of a product/niche that I'm not in.. It would be like "Hagrids House of Horrors" "It'll scare even the biggest of men" in a vintage retro sort of way. Advertised to Harry Potter fans.. but that's the extent of it.

No pictures, no company names, no reference to any copyright or trademark...


Am I just getting bullied by the copyright police, or is my e-law degree on copyrights and trademarks accurate?

I was looking at some of the comments on a redbubble page about dmca notices, and they appear to just suspend accounts on bs claims. Someone made a "John Beere" as a parody of John Deere and RB decided to suspend them for it.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/pilgrim/journal/12050877-redbubble-and-copyright

That was a good read, even though it's true that basically they just hurt anyone who gets any sort of claim - valid or not, because it's better than having to fight anyone's legal department.

Shame that I can't just distribute these myself (I don't have the money to invest in that yet). Since I'm sending my traffic for most of my work to my own website, I wonder what other sort of options I have if RB falls through.