CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It looks like clothing for a good cause: bird-themed shirts bearing the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue name, but Jennifer Gordon, executive director of the rescue, said the merchandise she is finding in questionable online pop-up shops is much more menacing because it's not authentic.
"I was so mad when it first started," Gordon said. "I was like, 'Oh my God... I'm going to find these people.'"
The Indian Trail-based wildlife rescue said the person running an imposter shop with fake CWR gear is also messaging the rescue’s followers on Facebook, asking them to buy the items and benefit the birds.
"They're just basically taking the idea [for our gear] and... trying to reproduce it, and then they put it up," Gordon said. "I feel bad because people think they're helping, and they're just giving money to these scammers."
Gordon said this isn't even the first time imposter gear appeared online from a mystery seller. The first time Gordon said she messaged GearLaunch, the online site she said is hosting the fake online shop, and they took the store down. She said she is facing pushback this second time.
When Gordon posted a warning to others online, she learned something shocking.
"I've had a lot of people message me saying that they're going through the same thing," Gordon said. "The director of another rescue; she said they made a fake account with her name."
Gordon said her attorney has also been digging into the GearLaunch complaints, finding a lawsuit from the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association of Missouri against the company. The lawsuit document Gordon provided shows the suit filed in late October.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to GearLaunch and received an automated email confirming the company received the inquiry. At the time of publication, GearLaunch had yet to comment.
Jenna Close, a professional photographer and copyright protection advocate, connected with Gordon online because of their shared interest in birds and this shared grievance.
"It's a huge problem," Close said. "When you take something and use it in a commercial manner, and it's not yours, you're cutting into someone's livelihood."
Close spent years calling on Congress to strengthen and streamline the process of safeguarding creators’ works.
In December 2020, lawmakers finally passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020, also called the CASE Act. Close described CASE as a federal small claims process for copyright concerns.
"Copyright is a federal law. So, you have to go through the federal system, and it's just impossible financially to do it," Close said. "You're looking at, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Close is now guiding Gordon through the copyright process, but Gordon said it's a much larger legal undertaking than she ever thought she’d have to face as a local nonprofit.
"COVID was hard on us, and now the economy," Gordon said. "All the charities are really struggling, and they're just taking money directly from our cause."
Gordon asks any supporters of businesses and nonprofits to buy directly from those groups' stores and not through links shared by unknown parties.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, which recommended any groups experiencing the same concerns report them to their local law enforcement agency. They may also file a report with the FBI.
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.