Special offer

Interesting Controversy Surrounding Pinterest and Copyright Laws

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Personal SEO - Website SEO and Real Estate Marketing

I have seen the re-blog of Christine Bohn's post on Pinterest several times with many responses from "WOW" to "is that breaking the law?"Pinterest

Pinterest is basically like Facebook with the difference being you only post links. Organize a few "boards" with topics you like, i.e. "favorite recipes", "home decor" etc.. then when you find a site with something you love, you attach the link to that board so that others that follow you can see what you like. If you like it enough, you are basically sharing it with others in the Pinterest world.

How is this any different than Facebook? Millions of links, videos, pictures, graphics and sayings are "Shared" and re-shared daily. If I sent a cool quote I came up with out into the world and it went viral and was shared a million times, I can't imagine I would have any recourse in suing someone for copyright law infringement.

pinterest

Pinterest is not designed for passing something off as yourself or created by you UNLESS, in fact, YOU created it and uploaded it from your website. IF you do, I suppose you agree to the fact that it MAY be re-pinned over and over. That's not really the RISK, it's the GOAL. You want your items or things re-pinned. Each re-pinning gives a link back to the original post, page, site or source so I am not sure how this could be construed as breaking copyright laws.

Pinterest has stated that they don't want you copying and pasting entire dissertations from websites and passing them off as your own and Pinterest Etiquette states that the whole objective is to credit the source.

So, I am assuming, unless you unlawfully copied something from the Internet (like an image) saved it to your computer, then pinned it as your own, THAT would be considered copyright infringement. Simply posting a link to the image would do nothing but benefit the original site with a link back for them.

Am I wrong? Missing something here? Or should we just let go and Pin away!?

Posted by

Personal SEO Tim and Tammy Emineth

Personal SEO Facebook Page Personal SEO Instagram Page Tammy Emineth Pinterest Page Personal SEO Linkedin Page Linkedin Page

 

Tim and Tammy Emineth have owned Personal SEO since 2004. We focus on SEO first whether it's blogging, images, website design, IDX solutions and calls to action. We operate with a Storybrand philosophy to encourage more traffic to your site, more eyes on your content and more leads to your business. Call us or email us for a free website audit.

Tim: 425-443-8372  Tammy: 425-344-0677

Comments (13)

Connie Goodrich
Keller Williams Realty - McKinney, TX
CRS ABR (McKinney Realtor)Texas

Unlike you who reads before passing on conversation,  I believe the rumors about unlawful uses of Pinterest and copyright infringement are just that .. rumors.  Accusations from those who have not read and understood the Accepted Terms.  You would think that by promoting a photo of something you like would be the type of marketing that the varied vendors would just love.  I wonder if there is any way I can get my listings on the boards?

Jan 06, 2012 01:17 PM
Tammy Emineth
Personal SEO - Website SEO and Real Estate Marketing - Frenchtown, MT
Content Marketer, SEO Teacher, Website Fixer

Connie, I have read several outside blogs, the copyright laws and rules of Pinterest and they really don't say much about the details except they do say not to promote yourself too heavely. The point is to pass on "cool" stuff. I have uploaded a few links for my clients but not to the extent I would be banned or even red-flagged. I use it more for recipes and home decor ideas and find it very addicting!  I don't see why having a board with your personal real estate listings on it would be an issue. If you posted the same thing every day or 20x a day it might be frowned on and no one will follow you! LOL!! Thanks for your comments! :) Have a super weekend!

Jan 06, 2012 01:27 PM
John McCormack, CRS
Albuquerque Homes Realty - Albuquerque, NM
Honesty, Integrity, Results, Experienced. HIRE Me!

I must admit I'm totally green about Pinterest and the rules it has.  I will be watching this post in hopes of learning more.  Thanks Tammy for always bringing helpful areas of marketing to our attention.

Jan 06, 2012 03:17 PM
Marge Piwowarski
Phoenix AZ Horse Property - Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix AZ Horse Property, LLC

Tammy, of course you are correct.  People who are very concerned with intellectual property need to keep it under wraps, a link to the site is never copyright infringement.

Jan 06, 2012 03:24 PM
Peter Pfann @ eXp Realty Pfanntastic Properties in Victoria, Since 1986.
eXp Realty, Victoria BC www.pfanntastic.com - Victoria, BC
Talk To or Text Peter 250-213-9490

Hi Tammy,

Every day a new twist, seems to me that sharing links to sites and places is what many are after but the ethical might be to advise, when plan on linking

Jan 06, 2012 03:39 PM
Andrew Mooers | 207.532.6573
MOOERS REALTY - Houlton, ME
Northern Maine Real Estate-Aroostook County Broker

The source, heart of the media as long as it is retained, exposed, out in the open is called marketing.

Jan 06, 2012 08:34 PM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Interesting Tammy. I've never heard of Pinterest, but I'm curious enough to check it out.

Jan 06, 2012 08:54 PM
Conrad Allen
Re/Max Professional Associates - Webster, MA
Webster, Ma, Realtor

No problem for me Tammy.  I have no idea what Pinterest is or cool enough to send "good" stuff.

Jan 06, 2012 10:23 PM
Former Agent
None - Adak, AK

Yet another social media sharing website.  I can't keep up!!!!!!

Jan 07, 2012 03:49 AM
Peggy Hughes/pha logistix, inc.
pha logistix inc - San Francisco, CA
SF NYC LA

So much to learn!!  Thank you for keeping me up to date on all this new stuff...

Jan 07, 2012 05:11 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Tammy,  I believe you are 100% correct.   A link is not copyright infringement.  It benefits the original author. Prior to reading this I've not heard of Pinerest.  OMG ... I cannot keep up with all of this ... and not sure I want too!

Jan 07, 2012 02:56 PM
Russell Lewis
Realty Austin, Austin Texas Real Estate - Austin, TX
Broker,CLHMS,GRI

Like Aimee comment #9, I am somewhat overwhelmed by the flood of "social netowrking sites" but...as Kathleen mentioned, I believe a link actually benefits the original author.

Soooo...much to keep up with these days!

Jan 09, 2012 11:58 PM
Anonymous
naheedence

Hi Tammy, you are very wrong! In the first 20 or so images I saw after signing up for pinterest I did not see even one backlink to the image copyright holder. How is someone getting publicity when there is no backlink or credit? Also, when you sign up you agree to let Pinterest use images you post for their monetary gain, which means they can copy it and use it wherever they please.

Here is a great article with all of the legalese: http://seanlockephotography.com/2012/01/26/pinterest-com-and-copyright/

Jun 07, 2012 02:24 AM
#13