Not Pinterested

Do you ever stop to think about how real the internet is? How something so apparently intangible can affect your life in a very tangible way?

Well, this week, Eline Pellinkhof blogged that one of her designs had been copied and was for sale and there is very little she can do about it.

I also remember other things I've seen online, where designs have been copied and sold and there is little or nothing to be done. Small business owners, designers, artists, crafters... not being properly credited for their work, and maybe losing money, because of copyright theft.

Real things that affect real people.

Then, also this week,  I read a post on Carina's Craftblog, an article titled Pinterest - not the innocent pastime you may think, which also led me to a bunch of other writings on this subject.

Wow.

Pinterest could become a big problem. For me and for you, if you use it.

Here's why, in a nutshell.

• According to Pinterest's Terms of Use, I may only pin images if I own the copyright or if I have written permission from the copyright owner to make use of their image

• Once I pin something to Pinterest, I give Pinterest exclusive rights to the image and they can do pretty much whatever they want to with it.

In other words, if I pin an image belonging to somebody else, without their express permission, I am breaking copyright law and falsely giving Pinterest a royalty-free licence.

Oh crumbs, it's such a confusing and complicated issue that I have decided two things for now - (I may add to this later.)

• I have deleted my Pinterest account and gone back to saving any images I like in my own folders on my own computer, for my personal use/inspiration only. 

• I will only use my own images on my blog - (something I generally do anyway) and am looking into watermarking things I don't want someone else to claim ownership of.

I have barely touched the surface of this issue here - it runs deep and I merely wanted to flag it .... so here's a few links to some great articles worth reading:

Information for Bloggers and People Who Use Pinterest 

Is Pinterest a Haven for Copyright Violations? 

Pinterest.com and Copyright

Pinterest is Changing How I Blog and, (this is an interesting one) ..... Is Pinterest Already Making Money, quietly?

I know my action in deleting my Pinterest account is drastic but until Pinterest does something to solve the problems and make it less of a mess, I wont be back there. I don't need that kind of potential hassle, as remote as it may be.

The suggestions made by the LINK With Love project is that you only pin images from their original source, or repin only if the pin links back to the original source. Also, make an effort to get the image owner's permission, especially if you plan to put an image on your blog. 

Share images, but share them correctly. That seems the way forward.

However even that doesn't address the issue of Pinterest's exclusive rights to all pinned images - so you can maybe see why I am not pinning anymore. It's too convoluted to follow - a spaghetti ball of random loose ends.

I hate that it could have real consequences for me, down the line.

So that's where I'm at.  Not Pinterested anymore.

** Edited to add:


If you are worried about images being pinned from your blog, you can prevent this by adding a simple piece of code that is available on the Pinterest website, under the Help section, then under "Linking to Your Blog or Website."


If someone tries to pin from your site they will receive a message saying you don't allow it.**