Creator merchandise company Spring has been hit with 7 lawsuits this year

• Merch company Spring has been hit with numerous lawsuits this year.
• Spring, formerly known as Teespring, has been sued by several vendors and business partners.
• The global shipping company DHL is the latest business to sue the creator startup.

The creator merchandise company Spring has been hit with a slew of lawsuits this year following the sale of its assets, in late 2022, to the software company Amaze.

Spring, as a company, still exists but has been effectively defunct since the asset sale. Amaze has taken over running its merch platform, which is now branded “Spring by Amaze.” That hasn’t stopped the lawsuits against Spring (formerly known as Teespring) from piling up, however.

Since January, Spring has been sued by several vendors and business partners, with global shipping company DHL being the latest to sue the company. 

Three suits were brought by vendors who alleged Spring failed to pay them. Two were brought by shipping companies alleging breach of contract. Another was brought by an accounting firm. And one was brought by a former employee, Ty Huls, who alleged that Spring failed to pay the full amount of money due after a 2021 lawsuit by Huls resulted in a final judgment of $397,904.50.

To round it out, there was also one tax warrant, filed by the Washington State Department of Revenue, which resulted in a judgment of $14,687.36.

In sum, the lawsuits are seeking over $1.5 million in payments plus other unspecified damages.

Once an IPO-bound startup that was popular among content creators who wanted to make and sell their own merchandise, Spring struggled in the months before the sale of its assets to Amaze. Following its rebrand from Teespring to Spring in 2021, the startup faced challenges including mass layoffs in 2022, with creators complaining to Insider about delayed payouts and a decline in product quality.

Here is a list of the 7 lawsuits that have been filed (or refiled) against Spring in 2023:

Former Spring execs and Amaze are also mentioned in some lawsuits

It’s not just Spring that’s being named in the lawsuits, either. 

Former Spring executives including Evan Stites-Clayton, Chris Lamontagne, and Annelies Jansen have been named as defendants in one case. OpenAI’s Sam Altman is also named as a defendant due to his prior investments made in Spring and former involvement on the company’s board. Lamontagne and Jansen took roles at Amaze following the asset sale, assuming the titles of president and chief business officer respectively. But the two former Spring executives are no longer employed by Amaze.

Amaze Holding Company, a subsidiary of Amaze Software Inc, which acquired an undisclosed amount of Spring’s assets, has also been named as a defendant in three of the lawsuits reviewed by Insider.

In fact, the acquisition of Spring’s assets by Amaze has been a key point in some of the suits.

For instance, in a June filing from a lawsuit made by the former Teespring employee Huls, the plaintiff claimed that the company “deliberately misled” the former employee “into thinking that he would be paid what he was owed, for purposes of holding him off long enough to enter a transaction.” The transaction was Spring’s sale of assets to Amaze.

DHL’s suit also alleges that it is owed more than $133,000 for services provided to Spring after the asset acquisition in November 2022 by Amaze.

What’s next for those suing Spring? 

In March, three product vendors hired by Spring told Insider that after the asset acquisition by Amaze, they were left in the dark about how to get paid for the work they did for Spring. 

One vendor, who shared an email exchange with Spring, said it felt like the company “rubbed their hands and said, ‘We are a different company and we don’t owe you guys anything anymore.'”

For some of the vendors and businesses suing Spring, the question remains: What now?

Spring (referred to as Teespring in many of the lawsuits) responded to the Huls complaint in June, saying that it did  “not have sufficient assets to pay the full Final Judgment,” according to court documents viewed by Insider.

And Amaze, which now operates the Spring brand, may not be responsible for the various payments sought in these lawsuits because it purchased Spring’s assets, rather than the startup in its entirety.

Michael Curtiss, a former partner and M&A advisory lead at WilliamsMarston, previously told Insider that in an asset deal, the acquirer can specify which assets and liabilities they are willing to assume, and typically, the seller remains a legal entity and is still beholden to its liabilities.

Amaze declined to comment on the lawsuits directly but said in an emailed statement:

“The Amaze Software team is dedicated to helping Creators sustainably monetize their audiences. In addition to building features and services in house, we continue to look for acquisition and partnership opportunities that currently or have the potential to contribute to our mission as seen most recently through our acquisition of Outfts.”

Spring did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.