Designer sues Australian Shopify over alleged ghost stores that he claims copied his work 3,929 times

Court action represents rare attempt to hold global online platforms to account for allegedly hosting scam digital shopfronts

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A young poster designer is suing Shopify in Australia for allegedly refusing to take down two online “ghost stores” he claims imitated his website and stole his work.

Ryan Billington, 20, launched copyright infringement proceedings in the federal circuit court in Brisbane earlier this month against the multinational e-commerce company and two websites he alleges stole “substantially all” his designs.