Crime

Could Your Pinterest Addiction Actually be Illegal?

Some Concerned About Copyright Violations on Pinterest and Terms of Use Putting Blame on Members

Example of a Pinterest homepage board.

Pinterest is a quickly snowballing virtual image pin board that lets users pull together a wealth of ideas to do things like decorate their home, plan a wedding, find a fashion sense, aggregate recipes and create a book reading wish list, to name a few. With each “pin” is an image. It’s these images that have some squalling about copyright infringement, which if you read Pinterest’s terms of use, is a burden placed on each individual Pinner.

Some Concerned About Copyright Violations on Pinterest and Terms of Use Putting Blame on Members

(Image: Pinterest)

Business Insider reports that a lawyer and photographer named Kristin Kowalski was so stunned by the potential for copyright violation on the site, that she decided to delete her Pinterest account. She is one of many joining the ranks concerned about copyright law on the social pinboard site. Business Insider has more on Kowalski’s findings:

She browsed Pinterest’s Terms of Use section. In it she found Pinterest’s members are solely responsible for what they pin and repin. They must have explicit permission from the owner to post everything.

“I immediately thought of the ridiculously gorgeous images I had recently pinned from an outside website, and, while I gave the other photographer credit, I most certainly could not think of any way that I either owned those photos or had a license, consent or release from the photographer who owned them,” Kirsten writes.

Pinterest encourages repinning community photos though, so Kirsten found it hard to believe the act was unlawful. She continued to dig.

Kirsten turned to federal copyright laws and found a section on fair use. Copyrighted work can only be used without permission when someone is criticizing it, commenting on it, reporting on it, teaching about it, or conducting research.  Repinning doesn’t fall under any of those categories.

Pinterest’s terms of use, to which anyone who pins on the boards agrees to, states that as a “member” you are responsible for all the content you make available through the site in that you are either the sole owner of the content or that you have obtained consent or release for the content. In addition, Business Insider points out that in the event you are sued for copyright infringement on Pinterest, you may also have to pay the company’s legal fees should they become involved.

Some Concerned About Copyright Violations on Pinterest and Terms of Use Putting Blame on Members

Excerpt from Pinterest's terms of use.

Pinterest describes itself as a place where users can “organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.” Pinterest members can not only create their own pin boards but also can follow and browse other users’ pin boards to glean more ideas. Watch this brief Pinterest tutorial to learn more about how it works:

Websites such as Flickr, a popular site for those seeking to beef up pin boards, are beginning to introduce “do not pin” code that would help protect its own users from copyright infringement, Venture Beat reported. Venture Beat also notes that similar anti-pin code was developed, and is now available on Pinterest, for others who wish to protect content on their site.

Business Insider says that Kirsten compares Pinterest to Napster in its viability for copyright infringement and the stance the company maintains in its terms of use. Here’s what she wrote:

So, the next question is “how real is this risk and do I really need to worry about getting sued for something everyone is doing?” Well, my only response to that is to look at what happened with people who used Napster. Many users were, in fact, sued by music companies and artists for unlawful downloading of songs. Users like you and me and a 12-year old girl (not kidding). [...] I’m a lawyer and I see people suing for really dumb stuff every day. And, frankly, this isn’t “dumb stuff.” We are talking about intellectual property rights. Those of you who make your living as photographers know the importance here.

On the flip side, TechDirt is saying the copyright “freakout” and “hysteria” over Pinterest is pointless. Why? It believes that the traffic Pinterest brings to the source website of the image — when you create a pin the website from which it came is associated with it — will benefit it enough to trump copyright concerns. TechDirt sources a recent Mashable article about the amount of traffic Pinterest is driving to women’s magazines as an example:

Beginning this summer, Pinterest became the top social referrer for marthastewartweddings.com and marthastewart.com, sending more traffic to both properties than Facebook and Twitter combined. Pinterest is on track to become the second highest traffic driver (after Google) to Cooking Light‘s website, up 6,000% from just six months ago. The social bookmarking site already drives three times the amount of traffic to Cooking Light compared to Facebook.

Elsewhere, Pinterest is the fourth largest source of traffic for Country Living, up 150% from August to the end of January, and accounts for 3% of all referrals. It was the ninth largest traffic source for both Elle Decor and House Beautiful last month, both of which have seen triple-digit percentage increases in referrals over the last six months, and was among the top 10 referral sites for Self magazine.

The Atlantic Wire thinks that Pinterest is “backing itself into a wall” with the terms of use potentially turning off Pinners and preventing pinning capability by issuing code. What do you think?


Comments (53)

1 2
  • BubbaT
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 11:45am

    I look at it this way. If photographers are so damned worried about their images being used then either they should post them to the internet or post them in such a way they can’t be downloaded or used without permission. Utter BS. Another bid for absolute control. If anything this brings positive attention to the authors.

    Report Post » BubbaT  
  • SIXFRIGATES
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 11:22am

    Leave it to a lawyer to ruin something good.. Want to fix America?? THROW OUT EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WITH A LAW DEGREE, which is about 75%. They write laws with an eye towards ‘job security’. Laws are convoluted for that very reason.

    Report Post » SIXFRIGATES  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:27am

    I learned the hard way. If your headstuff is worth stealing and using, don’t put it online.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 3:57am

    If you don’t know what a shark looks like, but you want to paint a picture of a shark, you go to fotosearch.com and print out a photo of a shark. And it says COPYRIGHT there in the middle of the pic. But the shark’s still there, and that’s all you need. Somebody went way underwater and risked his life to get up in that big bad fish’s face, and took a pic of him, just so we can look at him online. And print out a copy of his big, toothy grin. Ain’t that cool? In other words, the copyright laws are already in place.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 2:04am

    I used to think that copyright laws only applied to the written word. Boy was I dumb! I painted the original Obamadevil, showed it to some people online, and they reversed it and played with it. Now it’s everywhere, and has been copied over and over. But I still own the original canvas. And it’s already worth a ton of money.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • RosieDawn
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 12:49am

    I use Pinterest as a visual bookmarks list. It’s much easier to find things I want to reference later by just looking at the pictures on my boards. I‘ve pinned items I’d like to purchase later on then gone back to it easily to make the purchase. I’ve discovered so many blogs and online magazines. I get to see what my friends are interested in. I’ve got a gift in mind for one of my friends based on her pins.

    Report Post »  
  • LTinUT
    Posted on March 3, 2012 at 12:05am

    Pffftt… the lawyer-photography deleted her account because she was worried? Good grief, my best friend is a photographer and any photo that is posted online has her watermark for the explicit purpose of protecting her work. She would love people to pin her photos because it would increase traffic for her website business! Much ado about nothing IMO.

    Report Post » LTinUT  
  • MyAgendaIsTruth
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 9:16pm

    Just found that site yesterday. My friend just told me today that the website has a lot of buzz about it and it’s gone viral. We were looking into ways to use it. And now this. Wow things happen fast on the net. In 2 days from boom to bust to jail!

    Somehow we need to settle all the copy write issues on the net if we are to continue to grow on the net.

    Report Post » MyAgendaIsTruth  
    • so3
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 9:47pm

      The copyright belongs to the person who created the image/art, simple. Unless you have actually created something that deserved to be copyrighted, you won’t understand. One of the biggest pitfalls of the internet is that people who use it have the idea that what they find there is free. Baloney…

      Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:06pm

      And people that apply for copyrights have the stupid idea that copyrights are supposed to grant enteral exlusive rights to something. Baloney.

      Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:18pm

      Copyright law goes back to the very beginning of the nation…I suggest reading the conversation between Madison and Jefferson, the two people who CREATED Copyright law…it may actually surprise some people what their intentions were…

      Report Post »  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 6:53pm

    You’ve got to have a really boring, empty life (and plenty of time on your hands) just to get into Pinterest in the first place. But then again, there are gamers online who pay real, hard-earned money for virtual “treasures”. Some people are just flaky like that.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • youMUSTstand
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 8:00pm

      What’s your hobby? Whatever it is i’m sure it makes you a boring pathetic person, your a dope.

      Report Post » youMUSTstand  
    • youMUSTstand
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 8:15pm

      (you’re) a dope, had a hard time spelling because my eyes were bleeding from your comment. Who actually goes on a website to bash people for doing something on another website which is somewhat similar to making comments on websites? Is your time being put to so much better use? or is it just because you’re so much better of a person? My conclusion is you are either 83 years old and just figured out what this internets thing is, or you are 12 and also have nothing better to do.

      Report Post » youMUSTstand  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:05pm

      I am a successful freelance artist who works with acrylic on stretched canvas. I’ve been painting for about 15 years, and I’ve sold every painting that I ever created. This is what a well-known art critic said about me last year:
      “Her works are distinctive for their bold, vivid colors and use of meticulous details which invite the viewer to examine the paintings closely. She is a Neo-Primitive, because she is an American self-taught artist with no formal education in the Arts. Not having been taught the rules of conventional Art, she makes up her own rules as she goes along. Yet her canvases always appeal to the eye of the beholder.”
      There is such a thing as a God-given gift, don’t you know.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:34pm

      And you know what, YOUMUSTSTAND? I’m making good money off my “hobby”.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 11:06pm

      And yeah, I’m 13. Prove me different. Now answer me some questions: howcome Jake The Human has lots of friendgirls, but no girlfriend? Are Mr. Black & Mr. White gay lovers? Will Susan and Mary Test ever figure out that Gil is gay, and that he’s in love with their little flame-headed brother Johnny? And why does Wanda love Cosmo so much, when he‘s so stupid he’s dangerous? When I watch toons, I wonder what them writers are thinking. And by the way, dragons is SO stoopid!

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • kitty_498
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 11:53pm

      “You’ve got to have a really boring, empty life (and plenty of time on your hands) just to get into Pinterest in the first place. But then again, there are gamers online who pay real, hard-earned money for virtual “treasures”. Some people are just flaky like that.”

      Seriously???? Pinterest is not boring…I have an extremely busy & full life. I am a teacher & find fantastic ideas that reach all types of learners through Pinterest.

      Report Post »  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 5:52pm

    This concludes my interest in Pininterest.
    Out.

    Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
  • HMlaw
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 5:29pm

    This article is incorrect in asserting that increased traffic will offset copyright concerns. For some copyright owners traffic to their website just costs them money (like professional photographers) but may not produce any benefit or real customers. There are serious concerns with Pinterest’s model, but this article does a good job of concluding what you can do to protect yourself: http://www.hebetsmccallin.com/blog/is-pinterest-legal-a-criminal-lawyers-perspective/

    Report Post »  
  • Pattondog
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 4:44pm

    Look no further than Obama, this was not an issue 6 months ago, However OBAMA SIGNS ACTA Treaty with the U.N. via Executive AGREEMENT by passing yet again congress.
    pipa and sopa were an infringment on our constitution and he couldnt have that on his record so he sings onto the ACTA wich is 10x worse that the sopa. but hey this guy cant do no wrong his obama and if you disagree your a racist, and if you continue to disagree you will not like it when he afronts the constitution and runs for a 3rd term, or just mandates himself.

    Report Post »  
  • Lion420
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:29pm

    It’s really just a matter of time, before the government starts using cloudy laws like those involving copyright infringement to arrest and fine people, perhaps worse.

    Report Post » Lion420  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:31pm

      Umm ever heard of napster? That time has been upon us for quite some time now.

      Report Post »  
  • Rowgue
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:24pm

    I don’t really have any idea what this site is or have any interest in ever using it, but once again stop with the copyright bull***t.

    Copyrights were not intended to give people lifetime exclusive rights to anything that they’ve managed to get copyrighted. The intent of copyright law has been perverted beyond belief to the point where a copyright essentially grants you eternal domain. That was never the point of copyright law nor should it be. Revert to the original intent of copyright and end all this bull***t.

    Report Post »  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:04am

      Howard Phillips Lovecraft died in1937 at the age of 47. Shortly before his death he begged his “best friend” August Derleth to burn all of his writings. Instead, Derleth published them after Lovecraft died, and got filthy rich. Derlith’s grandkids, April and Walden, are still reaping the benefits of H.P. Lovecraft’s writings. To this day Hollywood is still making movies based on the Chthulu Mythos. They did the same thing to Phillip K. Dick. You would be amazed at how much of modern sci-fi culture came out of the minds of these two brilliant men. Yet they both died young, and they both died poor. So try to convince me that copyright laws are eternal. People are greedy, and lawyers are sneaky. They can snatch your intellectual property right out from under you if you’re not up on your game. And don’t even get me started on Issac Asimov and what Hollywood did to him.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • gramma b
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:10pm

    “Fair use” includes copying for purposes of commenting. So, just be sure to make a comment about anything you pin.

    Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:39pm

      “Fari Use” merely reiterates the intentions of Jefferson and Madison when they created copyrights in the first place…to further the development of the arts and sciences…They wanted to provide a financial incentive for thinkers, writers, and artists to create their wares…

      However, they were deeply concerned that the same laws would be used to inhibit others from building on their work. They did not believe it right for a person to monopolize ideas, but believed a TEMPORARY monopoly would prevent the wealthy from exploiting the poor…

      I wonder, how well do modern copyright laws meet the founders original intent?

      Report Post »  
  • hatchetjob
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:54pm

    DB321, That was funny!

    Report Post » hatchetjob  
  • EnigmanDen
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:40pm

    Had no idea what this was until I read this article…. now understand that it‘s one of the dumbest things I’ve yet to see….

    Report Post »  
    • FoeHammer865
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:00pm

      I knew because my wife is on it all the time. Definately a female thing. I have to say she has had some great house reno ideas and good recipe ideas that came from there.

      Report Post »  
    • wbalzley
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:22pm

      I heard people say the same thing about YouTube when it first started…and Facebook…and Twitter…and oh yea…THE INTERNET…

      Report Post »  
  • Brooke Lorren
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:21pm

    I think that the biggest problem with Pinterest is that they allow you to see the full-sized images when you click on it. I think that that will eventually have to change. The courts have already ruled that placing thumbnails on another site is fair use (in a Google case). It would probably be best if you couldn’t see the full-sized image unless you went to the original site.

    The other problem with Pinterest is the embed code. It’s one thing to post a thumbnail linking back to the original site, and another thing to embed the picture on your own web site. That could be a problem legally.

    The terms of use of sites like these tend to overreach. Both them and Facebook have TOS’s that seem to grant the sites to do anything they want with things you post on them. I know that they don’t want to sell posters on their sites, but if they did, they would certainly be in for a lawsuit.

    I’m sure that it will all get sorted out eventually, but right now there is a lot of grey area. I don’t think the average user will ever get sued, but those that use the embed function may end up in trouble, and Pinterest may be restricted to the size of image that they are allowed to use.

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:30pm

      My Pinterest only consist of one thing – Vote against Obama on Election Day – I get up everyday and check it to see if it is election day – it like waiting on Christmas as a kid – it is taking forever to get here.

      Report Post » db321  
  • HorseCrazy
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:49pm

    I am hooked like crack on pinterest and my husband says it is making him fat with all of the new recipes I have been trying. Ladies if you havent gotten on there go try it out it is fabulous kind of like having a giant stack of magazines without the articles just the instructions. fantastic.

    Report Post »  
    • sexyvixen21
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 3:48pm

      Don‘t you have to have an invation from someone that’s already a member?

      Report Post » sexyvixen21  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 4:24pm

      yes but you can request an invite and they send you one. It is great for decorating ideas, ideas for kids bday partoes etc give it a try

      Report Post »  
  • fallguy80
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:42pm

    The internet is a hotbed of copyright infringement of images. Here’s a hint, if you don’t want your pictures shared by other people…DON’T PUT THEM ON THE INTERNET!!! If they absolutely must be online and you’re still worried about it then put a watermark on the image.

    Report Post »  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 2:22am

      And people are sneaky and greedy. They’ll steal your “intellectual property” in a heartbeat if they think they can make a buck off it.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • objectivetruth
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:34pm

    Forgive me here but isn’t there a fair use doctrine.Provided the original copywrite owner is acknowledged and the work isn’t being used for commercial purposes,it would seem to me that the fair use doctine would apply.In science medicine exc many times someones original wok is cited as reference.Its a reference point the discoverer inventor used as a starting basis for their own work.It doesn’t remove the original work nor attempt to claim ownership of it.Wouldn’t this kind of fall in this category?

    Report Post »  
  • FedUpAlready
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:16pm

    What a BORING activity, I don’t have time to waste on such mundane non-sense, never mind risk being sued for participating.

    Report Post » FedUpAlready  
    • hatchetjob
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:47pm

      It sounds interesting, but I must be living under a rock cause I’ve never heard of Pinterest. I thought I was a well informed person.

      Report Post » hatchetjob  
  • Selfreliance
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:10pm

    So this TechDirt genius is of the brilliant opinion that illegal copyright violations are not illegal if they drive enough traffic to the owner of the copyright. Here’s a hint… violating someone’s copyright outside fair use exceptions is illegal. Period. The legal holder of a copyright has every right to pursue anyone who violates it.

    Report Post »  
    • sWampy
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:19pm

      I hope one day enough of this copyright insanity will make it to light to cause idiotic Americans wake up and demand something be done to eliminate the system. The 2 things our founders really, really screwed up on was creating the patent/copyright systems, and not outlawing lawyers in the constitution.

      Report Post »  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:42am

      What’s a TechDirt? Is it like a Bitter Clinger? Please hip me to the fact.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on March 3, 2012 at 6:08am

      This is the net, ya fool. No holds barred, no rules apply. Doncha ya get it yet?

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:04pm

    Until now I have never even heard of the place.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:02pm

    some commie article was saying Pinterest was heavily used by .. gasp.. MORMON WOMEN. all of this is getting to be ‘anti-Pinterest’ because of obamacommunist anti-Mormon hype.. pre-Romney Nov 2012.

    funny, but WOW! a lot of the “Misc” we saw on Pinterest would NEVER be condoned in any of the pro-America Christian like us or pro-America Mormon Christian homes we know of out here. our Christian American family ladies out here say they really like Pinterest esp for its Storing foods and DIY household supplies tips. and the fantastic BACON !!!! recipes.

    maybe they are going to target Pinterest next for so many BACON recipes, you know, being anti-islamic.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
    • Gulby
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 1:43pm

      Forget your meds today Burnthills?

      Report Post »  
    • drago
      Posted on March 2, 2012 at 2:23pm

      burnthills, better known as the crack head, encinom……

      Report Post »  
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