So, you uploaded a design and it got "CUPped" with a red box around it. You may or may not have had an email from CafePress about it and the reason(s) why. But you look in the marketplace, and there are exact or similar designs there. Why did YOURS get flagged while those are on the site?

There are several points to understand when this question comes up. The gist of the points is this - just because it is in the marketplace doesn't mean it's alright for you to use it.

1) It could be that the designs you see are being used by permission of the copyright/trademark holder. They do not have to put any kind of notice that they have permission.

2) Basically, it may just be because CP hasn't caught it yet. That doesn't mean it's "allowed".
Thousands upon thousands of images get uploaded to CP daily. While it appears they have some sort of automated system in place to flag designs that may be infringing on other's intellectual property or other rights, that doesn't guarantee that they catch everything upon upload. It may have been uploaded prior to an automated system.

Even if you feel you have the right to sell a parody design or have other "fair use" issues, CafePress has the right to determine that they don't want to spend the time and money to defend its use. After all, they are on the front line of a lawsuit since they are the deep pockets. It isn't "censorship" and it doesn't mean you can't sell it. It just means you can't sell it here.

Feel free to contact cup@cafepress.com with a "lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection" to the action, to quote Judge Chamberlain Haller. It is not unheard of for them to reinstate a design. Once they have received proper documentation claiming ownership, they must remove the design for legal reasons.

Feel free also to contact cup@cafepress.com with any designs you feel are infringing on someone else's intellectual property. They will appreciate the help.

There may be other scenarios by which you will see a design or concept in the marketplace that you have been flagged for. Others may chime in on this thread to explain those. There are some great threads on this forum about this issue, and hopefully we can get the salient points consolidated here so that in the future we can alleviate the need to create a new post with the above title.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Teesed,