Fast-Fashion Retailer Shein Accused of Racketeering and Copyright Infringement in New Lawsuit

Shein is a popular online destination for social influencers and shoppers to stock up on trendy yet affordable clothing, but a new lawsuit alleges that the site maintains its edge by engaging in “egregious” copyright infringement that constitutes racketeering.

The complaint was filed on Tuesday in California federal court on behalf of three designers who claimed they were “surprised” and “outraged” to see their products faithfully copied and sold by the Chinese fast-fashion retailer.

The reproduced products weren’t “close call” copies, where designs are interpreted with some liberties, but were “truly exact copies of copyrightable graphic design” that were sold by Shein, the lawsuit alleges. The company allegedly engages in a pattern of copyright infringement as part of its effort to produce 6,000 new items each day for its millions of customers. That amounts to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, the claim alleges.

Read the source article at CBS News