Like the rest of the World and growing every day, I have so enjoyed browsing and pinning on Pinterest. But lately I've been hearing a lot of Buzz about how Pinterest users might get sued for their pins.
Read this post from a lawyer who is also a photographer. Just to sum it up, you have no legal rights to the photography you pin or repin, even if you are giving credit to the photographer. It's kind of like the stealing of music that was going on at Napster and all those little girls did get sued.
Yes, you heard me right, Napster users got sued and so can you pinners. This is what you signed over at Pinterest to be able to use their site.
“YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU.”
"You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Cold Brew Labs, its officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with (i) your access to or use of the Site, Application, Services or Site Content, (ii) your Member Content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms.”
The thing I hate is the way it is set up. You are not encouraged to post your own work, as a matter of fact it is frowned on, but that really is the only way photos can get legally posted there. Maybe Pinterest should change their rules. Maybe if they don't want themselves or others sued, they should consider allowing members to post their own images for others to repin.
As Pinterest sits right now, is seems that it's ripe for photographers to sue them and it's users. And quite honestly, just because you make a statement that you hold your users responsible for the content, doesn't mean that legal action can't be taken against you. I'm positive that Napster had a similar agreement for users.
3 comments:
Interesting info, Cinders. Thank you for sharing!
I have read all these articles. There are definite concerns, but I don't know if they arise from actual "photographs" vs. product photography. Pinterest has sent a lot of traffic to my sites and I pin a lot of friends, also, as well as my primary pin boards to keep ideas organized. I like your idea about pinning your own things - I do it - it's not forbidden - but I am not closing my boards yet.
this seems insane, its just sharing what is already out there on the web. its no different than tumblr right? i dont know, it is highly unlikley you or i will be sued. i believe they would shut the sight down before going after individuals who are only participating in a free site that is allowing them to do this.
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