How to report abuse to Shopify
Report a Shopify store for counterfeits, trademark, or copyright infringement.
Where to report
Report a Shopify store at shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue: choose Copyright infringement or Trademark infringement and list each infringing page URL. If you cannot use the form, email legal@shopify.com. No published SLA; Shopify generally removes reported content and notifies the merchant.
- Abuse report form
- www.shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue
- Abuse email
- legal@shopify.com
Include in your report
- Your legal name and contact details
- Direct links to the original work or samples of your trademark or trade dress
- Direct links to each individual infringing page on the store (a general shop link is not accepted)
- For trademark: description, registration countries, registration number, and product/service categories
- Good-faith statement, accuracy statement under penalty of perjury, and a physical or electronic signature
Shopify hosts or serves the content, so it can remove the infringing page or store. If the domain itself is the abuse (a typosquat or lookalike), report it to the registrar as well.
Removing a counterfeit Shopify store? Follow the Shopify counterfeit removal guide
Shopify powers millions of online stores and is the platform most often used for counterfeit and lookalike storefronts because a store can be launched in minutes with copied product photos and a brand name in the URL. Shopify's Trust & Safety team handles copyright, trademark, and trade dress notices through dedicated legal forms and publishes a copyright policy, a trademark policy, and a repeat-infringer policy.
A Shopify abuse report can remove the infringing page or store. If the domain itself is the abuse (a typosquat or lookalike), report it to the domain registrar as well. For a cloned storefront, see how to remove a fake website. Payment processors are often faster than hosts — payment takedown guides cover that layer. Free takedown templates cover the wording.
Why brand-abuse sites show up on Shopify
Shopify is a managed platform, so unlike a bare host it can remove specific content or disable an entire store. Its policy is to generally remove reported content and inform the merchant through their admin, but it will not act on a general shop link; every infringing page must be listed individually. Counterfeit sellers often run several stores at once, and Shopify terminates all related shops for repeat infringement.
What a Shopify abuse report can cover
- Counterfeit stores using copied product photos and descriptions
- Lookalike stores with the brand name in the myshopify.com subdomain or custom domain
- Trade dress copies of packaging and store design
- Copyright-infringing lifestyle imagery and video
- Networks of related stores operated by the same repeat infringer
How to file a Shopify abuse report
- 1
Enumerate every infringing page
Shopify requires a list of each individual page containing the content. Capture product, collection, and homepage URLs with screenshots and prices so the notice cannot be rejected for citing only the shop root.
- 2
Choose the right form
Go to shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue. Use the Copyright infringement notice for copied photos and text and the Trademark or trade dress infringement notice for brand names, logos, and packaging. Fraud and scam reports have a separate category on the same page.
- 3
Complete the sworn statements
Both forms require good-faith and accuracy statements under penalty of perjury plus a signature. Shopify warns that false or bad-faith notices are punishable by law and that it may sue for damages.
- 4
Watch for the merchant's response
Shopify notifies the merchant, who may accept removal or file a response. If they counter and you do not initiate legal action within 10–14 business days, the content can be reposted. Prepare for that decision before filing.
When a Shopify abuse report is not enough
Hosting complaints remove the page, not the domain. A suspended site can reappear on a new host under the same URL within hours. If the domain itself is the abuse, file with the registrar as well. Stolen photos and copy are usually faster as a DMCA notice than as a trademark complaint — see the DMCA takedown guide.
How IPzest speeds up Shopify enforcement
- Continuous monitoring for Shopify stores using your brand name, images, and product listings
- Per-page URL enumeration and screenshot evidence in the format Shopify's forms require
- Related-store detection to flag repeat infringers operating several Shopify shops
- Coordinated filing across the Shopify store, its custom domain's registrar, and any payment processor
Frequently asked questions
How do I report abuse to Shopify?
Use the legal request forms at https://www.shopify.com/legal/tools/report-an-issue. Copyright notices go to the DMCA form and trademark or trade dress notices to the trademark form. If you cannot use the online form, send the notice to Shopify Trust & Safety, 151 O'Connor Street, Ground floor, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2L8, Canada, or email legal@shopify.com.
Does Shopify remove content or only forward the complaint?
Shopify removes it. Its copyright policy says that on a valid notice it will generally remove the reported content from its platform and inform the affected merchant via their Shopify admin. For trademark notices it notifies the merchant, who may accept removal or file a response.
Will Shopify shut down a counterfeit store entirely?
It can. Shopify's policy is to terminate stores for repeat infringement, including all related shops owned by the repeat offender, and it may disable a store for even a single instance of willful or egregious infringement.
How long does Shopify take to act on a notice?
Shopify does not publish a response time. The only published clock is on the counter-notice side: if the merchant counters and you do not pursue legal action within 10–14 business days, the merchant is generally allowed to repost.
Other hosting providers
All hosting providers we cover
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) abuse report
- Amazon Web Services abuse report
- Bluehost abuse report
- Cloudflare (CDN) abuse report
- DigitalOcean abuse report
- Google Cloud abuse report
- Hetzner abuse report
- Hostinger abuse report
- Microsoft Azure abuse report
- Netlify abuse report
- OVHcloud abuse report
- Vercel abuse report
- Vultr abuse report
- Wix abuse report
- WordPress.com abuse report
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