A Lawyer Who Is Also A Photographer Just Deleted All Her Pinterest Boards Out Of Fear
Pinterest places all blame and potential legal fees on its users. It writes:
“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.”
Basically, if a photographer sues you for pinning an image illegally on Pinterest, the user must not only pay for his or her lawyer, they must also pay for Pinterest’s lawyer. In addition, the defendant must pay all charges against him or herself, along with all of Pinterest’s charges.
BUT! There is this:
Copyrighted work can only be used without permission when someone is criticizing it, commenting on it, reporting on it, teaching about it, or conducting research.
Pinterest won’t even let you pin something without commenting, so we’re good there, right? Good grief.
Read the whole post here. Should I delete my boards? Or is this all overblown?
PS: Do read the post, but be sure to skim the comments. HELLUVA conversation happening about copyright.
PPS: I’m not deleting my boards. That was a joke, but it wasn’t obvious.
PPPS: Got a great reply from an awesome photographer in Chicago who posts a ton of his work to tumblr: nickgerber answered your question:
So many frivolous lawsuits. Add commentary to your pinboards if you’re legitimately concerned about it.
Sounds good. Ultimately, I think we will need a Pinterest user to get sued so we can see how the courts interpret the TOS. Any volunteers?