1mo ago

Spreadshirt to artists: We’re taking your designs for AI

pivot-to-ai.com Spreadshirt to artists: We’re taking your designs for AI

Spreadshirt is an online print-on-demand store. You can sell T-shirts and mugs and so on. My wife Arkady Rose is an artist as well as a musician, and had a pile of designs on Spreadshirt and Redbub…

(‘it is currently not possible to opt out of the AI function’)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvWPfVFMdx4&list=UU9rJrMVgcXTfa8xuMnbhAEA - video
https://pivottoai.libsyn.com/20250819-spreadshirt-to-artists-were-taking-your-design-for-ai - podcast

4 comments

Got the mail today, and it is written rather nicely at first glance, but close inspection reveals the utter contempt for the customers and artists - including the godawful “if you opt out we may terminate your account because you are not in line anymore”. What’s happening with all these previously decent enough companies?
- What’s happening with all these previously decent enough companies?
  They always hated you, it's just that they don't need you anymore.

abandon ship

I'm not even sure I understand the point of this supposed "feature". Isn't their business model mainly targeted at people who want to sell merch to their fanbase or their followers? In this case, I would imagine that most creators would want strong control over the final product in order to protect their "brand". This seems very different from stock photography / stock art, where creators knowingly relinquish (most) control over how their work is being used.