I know a lot of people – both online and off – who completely adore Pinterest. And I can’t blame them for that love; it is a pretty awesome concept.
A few months back, I joined and set up boards in order to see what all the fuss was about. I pinned some stuff and repinned a bunch more. I only signed on every so often, though, because – as God is my witness - I didn’t need another time suck.
But then the articles started posting.
…Original site sources were not getting credited. And those site owners weren’t happy.
…Other site sources were getting pinned, but those site owners didn’t want anything to do with Pinterest.
…Copyright questions were raised. And Pinterest’s practice of downloading each image seemed to be at the crux of the problem.
…Napster comparisons were made. And – call me crazy – I’m not interested in being sued.
So I deleted my boards.
And vowed to start anew.
* * * * * * * * * *
So why did I delete my pinboards just to start the lack-of-credit, copyright-infringement time-suck over again?
Because I did want to be on Pinterest to some degree, but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t inviting a lawsuit.
And to ensure that I am “safe” going forward, I am making sure that every new pin I make…
- links back to the original source, and
- is pinned with permission
Yes. As crazy as it sounds, I’m actually asking for permission for each pin I’m making.
How am I asking permission?
- I know the site owner personally, and know they are OK with me pinning their photos
- See that the site currently uses a ‘Pin It’ button
- Am first posting to a business’ FB wall or tweet stream asking if pinning is OK
Pin Permission from Anthropologie
Craft-E-Family Pin Permission
You guys might think I’m crazy or that this is serious and unnecessary overkill. But to me, it’s worth it. I don’t want even the slightest bit of doubt about my pins. I think photos of babies wearing hand-knit animal hats is just as cute as the next mom. But so cute that I’m in violation of copyright laws?
I don’t think so.
So where do you sit on the Pinterest spectrum? Am I being a crazy, paranoid lady? And if you want to (re)follow me, my new Pinterest username is LJostes.
I don’t think it’s overkill or crazy at all…I think it’s CMA. But I was a little relieved to see the email from Pinterest come across on Saturday morning. Since I was offline the entire weekend, I didn’t get to see what others were saying on Twitter and Pinterest about the changes to the policies and if that was going to effect how and what they pinned. It seems like Pinterest is listening, but I’m just wondering if they’ve addressed ALL of the concerns. I adore the site and, although it pretty much is virtual hoarding, it is fantastic to be in the grocery store and just pop open the app to see what I need for buffalo chicken tacos. It’s efficient and I’m all for that!
From what I read, there wasn’t any “improvement” with regards to copyright or credit attribution. Which are the biggest issues it seems.
I never thought to do this through Twitter! I’ve been emailing everyone
Thanks for the idea 
I totally agree with you, although I did not delete and start over but am going through my current pins and checking permission. As I said in my post about this, if the site has a pin it button on each individual post then I assume that is permission to pin. Otherwise I am emailing, and now I will be tweeting, to ask permission!
I figured Twitter and Facebook, and then taking screenshots is the easiest way to go about it.
I never had gobs of pins, so for me, it wasn’t as hard to start over.
I think that’s very wise of you Liz. I’ve pined nearly 1,400 items so it’s a little hard for me to start over. I have been making a conscious effort to Pin posts that have Pin It posts, and if I repin something, I try to find the original source and Pin it from there.
Thanks Alison! And I totally understand why it would be hard for someone with 1,400 pins to restart!
Wow, what a great way to cover your butt. They are slowly changing their guidelines over at Pinterest but I think your measures are so smart.
I feel like if I have permission, then I can’t worry.
I guess I feel that until someone tells me that pinning without permission is truly illegal, then I’m okay with continuing to pin. Especially if it’s something that I’m repinning, versus an original pin of my own. I might be being naive though.
I’ve read some articles, and some legal experts think that Pinterest is actually going to be okay, and won’t be subjected to legal action. I hope they’re right!
Hopefully you are right!
People are sue-happy, though, and all it takes is 1 person who feels their rights have been violated to go to court and potentially take down all the pinners and re-pinners with them.
I’m with Alison in that with more than 1,000 pins I don’t know how I would start over but I have been scarce there lately because I have been scared. I am slowly going through my boards and deleting where I cannot find a source. I will surely follow your new boards!
Thanks Brittany! And I totally get how those with that many pins don’t want to start over.
I refused to jump on the Pinterest bandwagon. Mainly because I don’t have the time. But also because I jumped on the Klout bandwagon and well, you know how that turned out. Basically the same thing – unethical business practices were uncovered. I deleted my Klout account and have never looked back. Based on this, I’m glad I never even got started with Pinterest…
Sometimes it’s better to sit on the sidelines a bit in this always-changing world of social media!
I think that’s a great idea to do it through twitter.
I’ve repinned things without thinking.
But on other’s blogs that I’ve stumbled, I have asked the writer if I could pin it.
I figured I might as well take advantage of FB and Twitter for permission, right? Since all this nonsense is social media anyway.
I think this is smart, but deleting my boards induces some weird kind of paranoia. LOL I must be some kind of pinning freak. I’m going to have to think on this.
Ha, ha! Oh no – pinning paranoia!! That’s not good!
You made some really great points. This is the first post I have read about the problems of pinterest that had a solution to the problem.
Thank you!
I’m not pinterested. I have a pin it button because I think it’s great others love it, but I 1) don’t want another social media thing and 2) think stumbleupon fits my Internet brain style and blog better. All that being said, I think you’re awesome for working so hard to protect other people’s work. I’ve had blog posts cut and pasted into emails without attribution and I cried when the media picked it up without crediting me. You can really screw people. (ps. I’m over it now so person who did that who could read this? No worries. We all make mistakes.)
Thank you Alex! I’m sorry for your lack of crediting situation; I would have cried, too! And I think we all need to do what makes sense. I only kinda sorta used Pinterest to begin with, so there wasn’t the emotional attachment to me that others have. A lot easier to cut back/stop when that’s the case.
I think this is super smart, good for you.
I used to browse The Pin a TON – until work blocked the site. Now it’s rare, and only on my mobile apps. So, when I’m going to the bathroom or in traffic :p
Great points Liz. I am interested to see how things to change -or if they do, with the new guidelines. You are so right about people being litigious–it is definitely better to be safe than sorry!
That’s my contention. People find reasons to sue – legitimately or not – every single day. Pinterest is ultimately a pasttime, and not worth the trouble.
This is a great article, Liz. You bring up some really, really good points. What I find myself doing is that I click through on a pin that I want to repin. If it goes to the original link then I will repin it, if not, I don’t pin it.
I want the original sites to get credit and the traffic from my pins.
Absolutely! Proper credit is HUGE!
You can pin burgers anytime you want from my site
. Seriously, though, good article. You always have such great content on your sites. Thanks Liz!
I know it! You qualify as one of my IRL friends. In case you were worried about that.
The way I see it is if someone is going to sue someone, they’ll sue Pinterest for making the whole pinning process possible. I used Napster all the time back in the day, but was never sued over it because I wasn’t the owner nor did I profit from it. If someone is going to take legal action against a pinner, they have to sue all the pinners. And that just doesn’t make sense. That’s way too many people to involve. The most logical thing to do would be to get to the core of the problem. Because that’s they way I look at it, I don’t worry about what I pin. Will it come back and bite me? Possibly, but I have thousands of people doing the same thing and can use that as leverage. If a single pinner gets sued, there’s obviously some discrimination going on.
I wish that were the case!
According to their TOS, Pinterest seems to be trying to pass the buck – and Pinterest’s own legal fees – if they or you were to be sued.
With Napster, individuals actually were sued, even a 12 year old child.
However anyone wants to pin is up to them, but for me, Pinterest is nothing more than a casual hobby and I don’t feel passionately enough about it to not tighten up how I approach it.
Hopefully as the site evolves, so will the TOS.
I haven’t been on pinterest since the copyright hoopla all started, but I also haven’t deleted my account. I noticed that Pinterest mentioned something about being able to make some boards private, which would be wonderful, given that most of my pins are moodboards for home improvement and I have no need to share them with anyone.
Yes, I really like the private idea! Especially for those who have boards that they truly want just for inspiration like your home improvement boards.
As long as you make a comment about each photo that you pin, you will not be infringing on copyright. The law allows you to use as an example or demonstration of your point of interest. When you just pin at random whatever catches your fancy without making a remark, that becomes different territory.
I’ve noticed many folks on Pinterest simply fill up their boards without really sharing their own thoughts. Like blogging, you need to reference the item shared and not just fill your boards. It only takes a moment. Putting your cursor over the link will usually tell you whether or not you’re reprinting from an original site or it’s been copied out of recognition of the original poster. Hope that helps.
Interesting about writing something! I’ve never heard that. That would be a good workaround.
I haven’t found the hover technique to be fool-proof, however. Just yesterday, I found 2 pins that when I clicked on it, it took me back 1 step. But from there is was clear those people did not pin from the original source.
What a great idea! You can build a relationship with bloggers and companies while getting their permission.
I didn’t think about it that way, but you are right!
I am absolutely flabbergasted by the Pinterest crowd . . . seriously, I have my good post days at daddy runs a lot, but if I catch the right pin wave – well, my traffic, until that wave crashes, increases, at least 10-fold. To best take advantage of that, though, I’d have to post a lot of recipes.
About the legal side to this – I know you have your ear to the social media railroad tracks more than I do, but, because you’re not providing the linking mechanism, just supplying the content, you’d, likely, be fault-free for anything that got pinned without permission. Still, though, asking permission before pinning is hardly a bad idea — I’m all about anything that opens up actual discussion.
Wow, you are a pin success! I really haven’t done much, so I’m not seeing the referral traffic.
I think you’re very smart, my friend. I need a night to sit down and start deleting…I try to be careful about repins, but it’s hard to find the time! Like you, I’m not on it much
I still struggle with the napster comparison to some degree bc the two are completely different animals and I’m not convinced that it would go down the same way. But I wouldn’t want to feel like someone took my stuff without asking, so I want to be respectful of others.
The Napster thing to me goes back to the fact that individuals and not just Napster were sued. There are some pinners who think only Pinterest would “go down”, even though a pinner may be exposed to risk and Pinterest’s TOS actually says that a person would need to pay their own legal fees as well as Pinterest’s if there was a lawsuit.
I think you are doing it exactly right!!
I think you have to do what works for you.
Prior to this whole Pinterest thing (the rules being changed – I don’t think lightly of it, I just couldn’t think of a better word than thing!) I was already starting to check that my pins went back to links. I’ve been deleting them when they don’t. I am almost done w/recipe boards for starters. and will tackle more after that.
THEN I’ll review the pinning aspect and be sure it’s OK. It’s been a lot to do all at once, but I have asked via Twitter myself. I don’t think you’re crazy — but I get why others might not want to do as much as you have. :> For me if someone catches me with a pin that they want gone, I’ll remove it – and I’ll do my best to ensure that credit is given, but if I happen to repin and someone is upset and I don’t know, I won’t feel terribly guilty, I’ll just feel badly that I screwed up – knowing I didn’t do it with bad intentions, but just happened to repin quickly without thinking through if it had been OKayed, etc. If we’d all just pay more attention we wouldn’t be pinning as much – which would benefit the people we’re pinning, but possibly hurt them, as well, because their info wouldn’t get out there as much. So when credit and link is given I would hope that’d be enough.
Sorry, I’m rambling. And jittery. I might have to go now.
This is really interesting…and I think the whole TOS thing is multi-layered and super complicated.
I have always been confused as to how pinning doesn’t fall under fair use….to me it’s “commenting” on the image. And on top of that, although I have no legal reasons to think this, I’m using it as a bookmarking site only, so how on earth can someone sue me for that?
(i know, I know)
My friend sent this interesting article to me from a copyright lawyer who specializes in social media and it’s worth a read:
http://www.arikhanson.com/2012/03/26/legal-concerns-around-pinterest-advice-from-a-social-media-attorney/
She says that posting photographs of products would meet criteria for fair use, but posting pictures where the photograph IS the product could be dangerous.
This is why I’m not quitting pinning, I’m being more conscious of 1) WHAT I pin (I’m not asking for permission explicitly, but if they have a “pin it” button on my site, I’m taking that to mean they are granting permission) 2) HOW I pin it (I will check the URL/credit for the image before I pin or repin) and 3) well I forgot what number 3 is but it was a good one.
I decided that I’m not going to repin any photography unless there is a Pin It button. It seems like photogs are the ones raising the most fuss.
I deleted my boards when I realized that illegal or not there were people who were upset. I figured it was not worth worrying about. BUT I was totally getting ready to rejoin and follow the guidelines carefully this time. This post makes perfect sense to me
Sounds like we’re in the same boat, Branson! Good luck getting restarted!
Liz – thank you so much for this! I haven’t even had a chance to get into the Pinterest thing and then when I saw all the fuss I figured I would not even start it.
Being the rule follower that I am, I LOVE your suggestion to contact the source directly. I think I just may go over and see what all the fun is over there now!
You go, Paula!! Then look me up!
I’m not going to start over but I admire you for doing so. That counts for something, right? I guess I figure I can delete if need be. I WILL start over from here though and not pin things that are not legit.
It seems like a lot of people feel this way. They are changing their ways going ahead, but don’t want to comb through the past. And I get that. I was never addicted to pinning, so I just don’t have the emotional attachment to my old boards.
I haven’t really done much with Pinterest (like you another major time suck that I absolutely don’t need). But the whole napster/copyright thing kind of freaks me out. I just remember how huge that was back in the day. I would hate to see a bunch of 30 something mommies in court being sued for pinning.
Could you imagine? It would take down most of the blogosphere!
Smart! It’s not crazy or paranoid at all. I have lots of pins as I’ve been on Pinterest since it was still in beta early last year. However, in the past 2 months I’ve started emailing blog owners and sites that don’t have the “pin it” button. All of the bloggers I asked said yes and even asked if I knew how to help them add the “pin it” button, which I thought was pretty cool. I only had 1 company not respond to my inquiry, so I didn’t pin what I wanted. Love this post, Liz!
Awww, yay for helping site owners! So glad that most everyone is agreeable, too!
I can see how repins in particular could get tricky. I don’t have a ton of pins, so I think I need to check mine out. Great idea!
It never ever hurts to cover your a!*. Very sage advice. I’d take it, but I’m just too lazy. : )
I think you’re going about your pinning very professionally. I wish I had the heart to essentially start over and do it your way, but right now I just don’t. Until I complete higher priorities on my never-ending to-do list, decide to forgo sleep, or someone finds a way to add approximately eight more hours to the average day, I suppose I’m going to just have to take my chances with copyright violation.
I like that Pinterest is finally starting to take steps to address these issues, though. I just wish they’d come up with a “Block Follower” function – there’s a girl following my boards who I really want nothing to do with. I think she’s stalking my blog, too. Welcome to the seedy underbelly of social media.
I don’t think you’re crazy at all. I totally know what you mean, but there’s something so addicting about that website, and yes–it sucks me in every time, too. That being said, I should probably be a bit more careful and take the route you’re taking. More tedious? Yes. But I wouldn’t want a lawsuit on my hands either.
Thanks for this!
Hmm. I don’t think it’s crazy or overkill at all. I am a bit paranoid when it comes to my own stuff, so I totally would like others to ask/tell me when they’re pinning stuff from my blog, especially since so much of it does not have watermarks.
Leave it to you to do what is the smart, full of forethought, thing to do.
Me? Another reason I’m grateful I just stick my head in the sand.
xo
[...] was seriously not looking forward to deleting all of my hard work. Thank goodness I came across an article by Liz - of A Belle, A Bean, & A Chicago Dog – that gave me hope! She explained how we can use [...]