PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THIS POST DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE IN ANY WAY BUT IS SIMPLY AN ACCOUNT OF MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND THOUGHTS
Like so many other Pinners, I have been more than concerned with the issues surrounding Pinterest and possible copyright infringements. In essence, there is the very real concern that by pinning an image on Pinterest, users open themselves up to the risk of litigation because of a breach of copyright.
Fair enough I thought - but I'm not claiming someone else's ideas, I'm just pinning them so that I can remember that great idea, or recipe, or creation and then later be able to go back and get more details from the source page on the web.
And seriously, who in their right mind would not want their content pinned (with the proper links of course)!! Pinterest is where I have found some of my all time favourite bloggers and products! Things go viral on Pinterest all the time and that sort of advertising has to be invaluable - well, so I thought anyway! Having said that, there are already websites utilising the Pinterest provided code allowing them to block people from pinning from their sites.
With all this in mind, I thought that I had best check out my pins and make sure that I didn't have anything that might leave me exposed. I was thinking that I should probably check stuff that came from sources such as Google images, Flickr - places where the link on my pin might not reflect the original source.
To my horror, I discovered a disturbing trend - a significant number of pins, with no source, that stated they were "uploaded by user". Now that is a worry, because I have never uploaded a pin - mine have all been pinned from websites or repins. I always make sure that repins have sources, because... well, without one, what's the point! If I wanted images, I'd be on Flickr - I want instructions, recipes, patterns and guidelines!
So it would seem that these pins have somehow changed and I realised that should the creator of the image (or idea) see them on my pages they could quite fairly assume that was claiming credit for their idea, leaving me open to litigation. Now this is fair enough if I did steal their idea, but given that I originally pinned the image with a source link attached, is it my fault that somehow the Pinterest mechanism has changed my pin? According to the Pinterest Terms of Service it is, as all responsibility falls on the user - but then how can I be responsible if a pin on my board changes without my knowing about it?
Of course I am not criticising Pinterest, I am just wondering how we can best cover ourselves while still being able to pin!!
With this in mind I thought that I'd drop Pinterest a line to ask about the issue, and find out what can be done about it:
Like so many other Pinners, I have been more than concerned with the issues surrounding Pinterest and possible copyright infringements. In essence, there is the very real concern that by pinning an image on Pinterest, users open themselves up to the risk of litigation because of a breach of copyright.
Fair enough I thought - but I'm not claiming someone else's ideas, I'm just pinning them so that I can remember that great idea, or recipe, or creation and then later be able to go back and get more details from the source page on the web.
And seriously, who in their right mind would not want their content pinned (with the proper links of course)!! Pinterest is where I have found some of my all time favourite bloggers and products! Things go viral on Pinterest all the time and that sort of advertising has to be invaluable - well, so I thought anyway! Having said that, there are already websites utilising the Pinterest provided code allowing them to block people from pinning from their sites.
With all this in mind, I thought that I had best check out my pins and make sure that I didn't have anything that might leave me exposed. I was thinking that I should probably check stuff that came from sources such as Google images, Flickr - places where the link on my pin might not reflect the original source.
To my horror, I discovered a disturbing trend - a significant number of pins, with no source, that stated they were "uploaded by user". Now that is a worry, because I have never uploaded a pin - mine have all been pinned from websites or repins. I always make sure that repins have sources, because... well, without one, what's the point! If I wanted images, I'd be on Flickr - I want instructions, recipes, patterns and guidelines!
So it would seem that these pins have somehow changed and I realised that should the creator of the image (or idea) see them on my pages they could quite fairly assume that was claiming credit for their idea, leaving me open to litigation. Now this is fair enough if I did steal their idea, but given that I originally pinned the image with a source link attached, is it my fault that somehow the Pinterest mechanism has changed my pin? According to the Pinterest Terms of Service it is, as all responsibility falls on the user - but then how can I be responsible if a pin on my board changes without my knowing about it?
Of course I am not criticising Pinterest, I am just wondering how we can best cover ourselves while still being able to pin!!
With this in mind I thought that I'd drop Pinterest a line to ask about the issue, and find out what can be done about it:
Dear Pinterest,
I have to admit that I am more than confused with the whole copyright issue, and I am slowly working through my many pins trying to make sure that I have not made any infringements.
One thing that I am very concerned about is the number of pins that I have found on my boards that have no link, but instead say "uploaded by user". I have never uploaded a pin before, all of my pins have either been pinned from a website (and link back there) or are repins (again, I always check that there is a link to a page as there is little point otherwise). I am concerned by this because even though I did not upload the pictures, the person who does own the image or idea might see them on my page and assume that I have uploaded them and am claiming credit for that idea or image.
I have no idea why these pins have changed (perhaps the internet page doesn't exist any more, or alternately it changes automatically when the person that I repinned from deletes their page or pin) and I am not sure of a solution for this issue but for pins to change to "uploaded by user" without me knowing leaves me open to being in breach of the copyright laws.
I have to say that, like so many others, I absolutely love Pinterest and have gained so many great ideas and sources of inspiration from using Pinterest, and I know that you are working really hard to find solutions to the copyright issues, however if there is some sort of default that is amending pins to "uploaded by user" I think that this might be an issue that needs to be addressed. I know that the Pinterest terms state that you have no indemnity for copyright infringements, however if this is not addressed you will be leaving your many followers open to litigation.
Thank you for taking the time to read my comment
Is there an answer... watch this space!!!
In the meantime, happy (but careful!) Pinning
In the meantime, happy (but careful!) Pinning
