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Pinterest - What's the big deal?

  1. isharacomix
    Member

    I never would have heard of Pinterest until I saw the new little button in my WP.com sharing dashboard, and when I found out about it, I thought it was cool enough to blog about... so I did.

    Then I come to the WP forums and see all these threads about folks wanting to block Pinterest and whatnot. It's kind of depressing to see the adamant stance of folks against sharing. shoreacres in a previous thread posted a link about the legal ramifications of using Pinterest, and I wanted to respond with an article on why everyone should keep using Pinterest because Copyright law is horribly broken anyway.

    I decided to bite my tongue to avoid derailing that thread, but I would very much like to hear what other folks on the WP blogging frontlines have to say. I presume nobody here is a lawyer, so let's get that out of the way and get right to business: Is Pinterest biting off more than they can chew in this scary copyright culture of ours? Or do they have the right idea, pioneering a new and innovative way of sharing content?

    The blog I need help with is isharacomix.org.

  2. momfog
    Member

    I understand why people are scared of Pinterest. Nobody wants the hassle of being accused of copyright infringement and all that. I think the possibility of that is rather small and Pinterest is simply covering it's behind with its TOS. I use it and will continue to do so. Also....

    Holy crap! WordPress has a Pinterest button? How did I miss that? I'm adding it immediately. Oh, and pin away. I won't sue you. I promise.

  3. jessielansdel
    Member

    Where is the pinterest button please?

  4. jessielansdel
    Member

    I found it but can't use because cannot drag and drop on iPad.

  5. timethief
    Member

    @isharacomix
    For more on Pinterest issues such as affiliate links read Why I Don’t Mind Pinterest Hijacking My Links — BlogWorld & New Media Expo Blog.

    Bottom line: Many WordPress.com photographers, artists, cartoonists etc. who cannot make an income from affiliate links on their free hosted Wordprerss.com blogs aren't happy abpout others pinning their content as Pinterest is making an an income from their images with no gain to them whatsover.

    Also note this article:. “Some people have 30 or 40 boards, 900 pins, 600 likes. . . . They’re just going crazy,” says Karl Kovacs, a social media expert from Edmonton. — Could Pinterest play lead to virtual hoarding? Pintervention, anyone?

  6. timethief
    Member

    I think the possibility of that is rather small and Pinterest is simply covering it's behind with its TOS.

    I don't think most bloggers let alone Pinterest members comprehend what that ToS states and what the implications are. You may bot think that copyright is s serious issue but I assure you that it can be. I know someone who hired a web developer to develop as site and he used small images without purchasing the licence to do so. The photos were really small, perhaps around 120 x 120 pixels and Getty came after him for $60,000 in copyright damages. It's still before the courts as far as I know.

    What I'm seeing is images being pinned by B that are in A's blog but are under copyright to Vogue for example and one would have to be silly to think that they can get away with that. If and when the copyright holder comes after them then A is in violation of the WordPress.com copyright policy and they are off the hook. B is a Pinterest member who pinned A's image, which is in violation of copyright so pinterest is off the hook. B and A are left holding the bag.

  7. isharacomix
    Member

    @momfog: Your promise not to sue eases my tensions and warms my heart. :)

    @timethief: Thanks for the link - you raise a great point! The idea that Pinterest is basically using its users to power its affiliate marketing engine is sleazy at best, but let's just face it - the nature of the web is that stuff like this happens. Pinterest just is just doing it really, really well.

    This is an interesting phenomenon, especially in light of the MegaUpload fiasco. I'm quite excited to see more legal commentary on this! :D

  8. teamoyeniyi
    Member

    I am removing my PinInterest share button now.

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