Are you unintentionally violating copyright on Pinterest?

ElleH

Be careful on Pinterest. I'm thinking of closing mine down. I don't have time or energy to do it the right way. I don't have time to figure out the right way. I haven't been well & don't even have enough time to spend on YLF. I have a backlog of WIW & purchases etc & I don't get to spend enough time thinking about & writing my comments on your posts here. Anyway just wanted to warn you about risks with pinterest.
http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/.....Violations

11 years ago

Inspiration

7 replies

Latest reply was from Janet

ElleH

Veteran

And sorry abouth the whining I'm just overwhelmed & probably shouldn't be doing anything online that isn't business or health related.

11 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

As a photographer, I follow copyright issues pretty closely, and here's the thing: it is very difficult to enforce copyright violations.

If someone has a problem with their work appearing on pinboards, their first course of action is to contact the pinner and request an image be removed or request compensation for the usage. I'd be happy to comply with that.

I've discovered quite a few of my fine art images on Pinterest, and if they're not attributed to me, I add a note with a link to my website, etc. If I discovered someone using one of my images in a commercial website, I would definitely contact them to request compensation or removal of the image. However, I feel like Pinterest can be used to my advantage.

Just one perspective. I fully respect that some people may want to keep their work off Pinterest, and that some people may be reluctant to use it.

11 years ago

Nicole D

Veteran

If I was asked to take something down I certainly would. But I agree that pinning is a form of free publicity. And true, anyone can comment on a pin and attribute it. I would never use art in a public document though. Pinning is like saying - "hey look at this", not "hey look what I did". So sue me!

11 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I actually once got an email from Pinterest removing a pin. It was a street style photograph and I guess the photographer complained. So they do take things seriously.

11 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Nicole, to your point, I have found my work used on someone else's web portfolio, and they were displaying it as their own. I contacted the hosting company and had it removed.

11 years ago

ElleH

Veteran

I guess I'm afraid because someone did remove an image when asked & still had to pay $4,000 according to the article I linked to.

11 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

According to that link, they were using a professional photographer's stock image without permission on a commercial website -- using someone else's intellectual property to sell their client's product/service. This is not the same as pinning an image on a social media site like Pinterest.

11 years ago

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