But could you get in trouble with each pin and repin?
“Pinterest is not illegal,” says Dallas intellectual property lawyer Casey Griffith. “The issue is that the users of Pinterest can clearly go on Pinterest and see that many users are posting content that is protected by copyright and therefore they are probably infringing copyright.”
“The law covers that the copyright owner may be able to cover their attorney fees and significant statutory damages and that could amount to tens of thousands of dollars,” says Griffith.
“In other words you’re saying because the photo has the watermark it indicates who the real owner of the photo is,” says Griffith. “No, that has nothing to do with whether you have the right to republish it or not.”
But with Pinterest, he says the free advertising and promotion means the chances of someone actually being sued for copyright infringement is slim because most people want their product pinned.
“So for the user realistically, even if they’re technically infringing on someone’s copyright, it’s probably not going to result in any kind of lawsuit or liability or damages,” says Griffith.
And Pinterest has taken steps to protect copyright owners. Pinterest has also recently changed its terms and conditions to make it easier to complain and have pictures taken down. Pinterest also introduced the “no-pin tag”
“The safest way is to pin images that were generated by you,” says W. Keith Robinson, Assistant Professor of Law at SMU. “So either photos you took or drawings you drew.”
Read More and See Video: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/10/31/the-new-problem-with-pinterest/
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