Yesterday, I came across a post by one of my bloggy friends that has me a bit worried. In it, she shared her concerns about social media sites (
blogs, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and how frequently people use the works of others without the owner's permission. It has to do with the whole copyright infringement issue. Are you, in fact, stealing what rightfully and legally belongs to someone else? Oh, brother...I have to admit that I've never given any real thought to it.
Pinterest, which I
LOVE, is a prime example. I get on there regularly and when I see something I like, I pin it. I mean, isn't that the point, afterall? I don't sit there and think, "
Hold on a second. That picture does not belong to me, it belongs to someone else. Do I have the legal right to snag it and do with it what I will?" Click
here to read some heavy duty information about this subject.
So, are we all at a point where our
Facebook pages,
blogs, and
Pinterest boards will have to be devoid of any photos, comics, etc. that are not rightfully ours? Apparently, simply giving credit to the owner of those works is not enough. I'm going to have to mull this over for awhile. Would sure love to hear your input!
13 visits from friends:
April, I have enough to worry about! LOL! I read the article and am more confused. I would be really upset if Pinterest were to disappear! I love looking at everyone's ideas. Why does something that is so good have to get complicated? Let me know if you find out anything else! Enjoy your day.
I think Pinterest is actually okay in this department because the site links you to the original webpage or author. The idea behind Pinterest is that everything on there belongs to someone and you are saying I like your work.
Blogs are way more tricky. Some quotes I think are now in th public domain but if I post a quote I always credit the author. There are quote sites online that have been up for years so I assume (maybe incorrectly) if it comes from there its okay. Song lyrics and lines from a book are not okay without written permission.
We need to use our own words I guess is the lesson to be learned.
This definitely makes you stop and think, April!
On the one hand, I know it's something to consider before you use any "outside" images on your social media page, but we all have to keep in mind that even our own images, the ones we own, are pretty much public access... all you have to do is go to Google Images and you can see your own blog images on there! It kind of freaked me out the first time I saw images of MY house, My animals, and MY crafts on Google Images, even though it did link back to my blog.
I guess the bottom line is, we all have to rememeber that whatever we put on the Internet- on a blog, Facebook or Pinterest- it suddenly becomes accessible to millions of people around the world and I don't know if there is any way to "police" that... just something to think about!
Err... perhaps this will be the downfall of Pinterest. I LOVE it there too. It is very entertaining and educational and everything. And I agree, isn't that the point of Pinterest?
I know with blogging, you can put a watermark across the picture or in the corner that stamps your ownership to it. Most people don't like to use pictures that have been watermarked or stamped because it's annoying.
Hmm. That article was intense! I feel like I need the Hubby to decipher it for me. Ha.
I'm not sure what to think. I do know that anything I put on my blog can be stollen from someone if they want it. I do love Pinterest. I did read recently that it is a good idea to go directly to the recipe source and pin from there giving them the credit. I have noticed that many of them have "Pin It" on their page so they are obviously giving us permission to pin it!
This is why I now put my name or website name on my photos. This just happened to me last week. A big California company had my picture (before I put my name on it) on their website and didn't even have that it came from my website. How did I find out? Someone pinned it on Pinterest and I clicked on it and it took me to the Califronia site. SOOO I wrote that company and told them to either take the photo off or give my webiste credit. They did RIGHT AWAY. We have to be careful when pinning to make sure we pin things from the original source or that it links back to the original source. People put alot of time and effort into their crafts and photography-I nearly froze taking those owl pictures and had to hike for hours. Some photos come easy and others take hours to get. You wouldn't go and steal someone's painting which is art, well photography is an art too. Most bloggers don't mind using their photos as long as it links back to them. Great post April!
people have told me they saw my stuff posted on pinterest.. I don't really know what t think about that..it is free and it is on the wide open internet....i copy righted it anyway, but I know it doesn't matter..
i am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.
You have raised a good question here and it does need a bit of thinking about. My initial reaction was to think that pinning things on Pinterest and sharing pictures and other material on Facebook was a copyright infringement, and at the very least could be seen as intellectual theft in some cases. Even where credit is given, things are passed around the internet without much real thought about their origins.
However, I also think that people post things online now - whether on Pinterest, Facebook, Etsy, Tumblr etc - knowing full well that their material is going to be ripped off and they are giving up their rights to it. Does this make things "fair game"? I don't know.
Like I say, it's a great issue and needs some serious thinking about!!
This made my head spin. When I post anything to Pinterest I always site the owner. I also do it with photos from the web. I don't know if that is enough anymore.
Alot of people dont think about it becuase the internet makes it so easy to do it. As an artist, it is a huge toss up between putting pictures of my art up or not. However, as long as you copyright it, it makes it a little harder. I love sharring my work with others as long, as you said, give credit where credit is do. I always make sure i do, because i know how it feels.
The more people learn to do that i think that it will get "better"
I saw you on Lois's blog and saw you are from Georgia too. sandie
I read the whole article - thank you for linking it. I deleted my entire Pinterest account. I have a feeling that legal action will eventually occur (if there's money to be made, you KNOW it's a must!!!), and I think it's better to not be exposed when the poop hits the fan. You know??? It was a great idea, that obviously filled a need for many people. Plus it was fun!!
So for now, I will just continue to go there and copy things I like onto my computer, instead of on boards on the site. Perhaps just as "illegal", but at least it doesn't leave a trail and covers my butt!!! I've been doing this anyway for my Wednesday posts, so in the end not that big a deal for me. I never really used the site as it was intended as I didn't pin onto boards - just copy/pasted for my own use.
This is a sticky issue, and I can definitely see both sides of the argument. Many people don't want their work copied. Even if you have only the best intentions in mind.
All the legal mumbo-jumbo is enough to make your head split though!!!
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