In a major pronouncement dated August 13, 2026,[1] the UK High Court delivered a landmark ruling in the ongoing legal battle between Shein and Temu, rejecting Shein’s lawsuit alleging that Temu engages in "industrial-scale" copyright infringement.

1. The Core Allegations

• The Claim: Shein (specifically Roadget Business, which operates its UK site) sued Temu’s UK operator, Whaleco UK, claiming that independent merchants on Temu’s platform were using Shein’s own-brand product photographs to sell competing goods.
  

• Scope: The lawsuit focused on 2,559 product pages on Temu’s UK platform, involving over 2,200 photos taken by Shein staff and hundreds more provided by agencies.
  

• Initial Arguments: Shein initially argued that Temu itself was reproducing the images. However, Shein abandoned this part of the case at trial because Temu’s servers for the UK site are located in Ireland, placing any direct reproduction outside of UK legal jurisdiction.
  

2. Cause of the Loss

The court rejected Shein’s attempt to hold Temu liable for the actions of third-party sellers on its marketplace for several major reasons:

• Lack of Authorisation: The judge ruled that Temu had not authorised its merchants to breach Shein's copyright.
  

• The "Hosting Defence": Even if infringement had been established, the judge found Temu qualified for the "hosting defence" available to online intermediaries. Under this protection, platforms are shielded from liability if they act as passive intermediaries and lack "actual knowledge" of the infringing content.
  

• Passive Role: The court concluded that Temu had not selected, edited, endorsed, or promoted the specific photographs at issue, and therefore could not be held responsible for the third-party listings.
  

3. The Counterclaim & Damages

The ruling was a "double blow" for Shein because the court also upheld Temu's counterclaim.

• Damages: Because Shein had previously secured injunctions requiring Temu to remove thousands of product listings, some of which featured images for which Shein held no valid copyright claim, Shein is now required to pay damages to Temu. The exact amount will be determined in a future trial.
  

4. Impact of the Judgement

• Precedent: Legal experts note this ruling makes it significantly harder for rights holders to pursue online marketplaces for copyright-infringing material uploaded by third-party sellers, provided the platform is considered a "passive intermediary".
  

• Shein’s Reaction: Shein criticised the ruling, calling it a "surprising" outcome that creates "one rule for web platforms whose servers sit outside the UK and another rule for everyone else".
  

• Ongoing War: This is only one chapter of a larger global dispute. A separate trial is scheduled for 2027 in the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal, where Temu is suing Shein for alleged antitrust violations, claiming Shein used "aggressive and relentless" tactics, including tying suppliers to exclusive contracts, to undermine Temu’s ability to compete.

Feature written by Kushraj Singh, Senior Legal Correspondent, The Global IP Magazine.

Email Kushraj: newsdesk@northonsprmarketing.com