Photos Beware Pinterest
I had no idea what Pinterest was today until I took the training Kyle developed for Affiliate Bootcamp. I went through the training and understood what he was doing. However, you need to be very careful about using this for marketing your websites.
Photos on the internet are what is called intellectual property. That means someone owns the rights and wants to be acknowledged for their use. Intellectual property is not tangible but intangible such as a right. I hope this makes sense. (Us legal minds find it hard to say things simply at times so I apologize.)
Most of the photos I use on my website I purchase. Yes, I know as mentioned in the training and other blogs there are "free" photos. I rather put a little money in my business and protect myself. That being said, if you are not sure of the source of your photos or have purchased your photos, as I have, you could be setting yourself up for a lawsuit by using Pinterest.
When you purchase the license to your photo most companies allow you to use the photo with acknowledgement of the contributor and website. You may use the photo to enhance the visibility of your website and visual people like pictures. The license does say you cannot us the photo(s) for commercial purposes.
With Pininterest you are using the photo for commercial purposes as you are linking it back to your site. Most of our sites are selling services or products. Thus, you are illegally using the photo as you are directing them back to a site that is a business. If you are not a business but a blog page, I did not see where that would an issue to link back to your site. But, the law can be unclear and can be challenged by the right person.
A few things about photos. I use a photo website that indicates the people used, which are usually models, have signed a consent, waiver or release for public use of the photo. When I see that I know I can use the photo legally.
When you use a photo you should at least indicate the following:
"Photo is courtesy of xyz company/shutterstock.com." or "Photo is courtesy of shutterstock.com"
When you upload a photo you do have the opportunity to add a caption in Wordpress. I add a caption about the photo and then the source of the photo.
"Happy couple smiling. Photo is courtesy of abc company/shutterstock.com"
Someone a few days ago wrote about taking your own photos for your website. Great idea but you do need to use with caution. Some sites, buildings, etc. that are photographed you may need to seek permission to use that photo for your website. If you are taking pictures of people walking down the street, you should get a consent, waiver, release from them to use the photo. You ask why. Because you are using them on a site for business which is for commercial purposes. Again Pinterest comes back into the story. If you use that photo to link back to your site, you have used the photo for commercial purposes.
One short story about taking photos. My ex and I were on a trip somewhere years ago. A man came up to us and wanted to photograph us as we were tourists and the tourists bureau was doing a new brochure. We agreed and signed a document allowing the use of our photo for the brochure. Not sure if our photo made it into the brochure.
I went to another website recently and wondered why people were blurred and when taking pictures of public places no one was around (such as malls, libraries, etc.). I discovered they do not obtain releases, consents or waivers so they have to blur people and visit places when no one is around.
Just wanted to share this with you from a legal prospective. This is not meant to scare anyone just share information. Unfortunately the intellectual property area of law is growing rapidly because people are incorrectly using intellectual property and the owners are taking action.
Debbie
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Nice reminder; for me pinterest is not that significant -- but then I know a few people that do make use of it and seem to get results. I suppose if you balanced expected profit versus possible risk of loss -- that would be one way to look at it.
I think you need to weigh the risks. I think they are minimal as I use Google+ and Twitter for my social media. Thanks for your comments.
Well done Debbie! Bringing the matter of intellectual property of images is close to my heart. There are those with scruples, such as boomergp08 below, and other WA members that I know, who properly attribute the source of their images. As all should.
Having been a member of a large photo and art sharing site for many years, the arrival of the pinning concept "Oh, here's a nice photo - I'll pin it to my board - what a creative person I am!" has caused many problems among the members.
There were many images stolen from many member's galleries and a whole raft of DCMA notices issued to the thieves. Breach of Copyright notices. Take Down notices. Only a negligible percentage of pinners bothered to attribute the source of their images. The mentality of pinners seems to be that any image that appears on the internet if free for them to take and perhaps try to claim as their own.
Perhaps the intentions of those who created the pinning concept were honourable, but many of those using the service were not, and controls appeared to be non existent.
From my own standpoint, I refuse to have anything to do with that site, even though it may be to my financial detriment. Everyone can make their own decision to use or not.
There is a way of checking whether an image has been used without permission.
There is a site called tineye.com where a search can be done on the status of an image. As an exercise, I uploaded one of the images I've used on one of my blogs. The results were that in a search of over 4.044 BILLION images, this one did not appear elsewhere and it gave the correct meta data for my image.
In my own blogs and sites, I have used my own pictures exclusively. My ownership sits on my hard drive. This is my personal choice to do and I've given some WA members permission to use some of my images free of charge - provided they attribute the source. I'm happy to help other WA members in that respect.
As I'm looking at creating my own photo site and an Ebook, the information here is a timely and valuable reminder to guard one's intellectual property and to respect the ownership of others. Thanks again, Debbie!
:) george
George, thank you for your comments. I am not going to us Pinterest either. I agree it may be not a good idea financially but I would rather know I have not done anyone harm but using a photo. I love your photos. Best wishes on your site and ebook. I would be interested in taking a look when you have it completed. Debbie
This is why I only use Public Domain photos from wikimedia commons and the rest I take myself. If I should take pictures of people I always ask their permission first. If I should use a picture that's not public domain I always attribute it according to the licensing agreement. - Good post! I'm sure there are a lot of people on here who do not know or realize that the photos they are using could be licensed.
Thank you for your comments. I am sure people are not aware about the proper use of photos. Debbie
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I had no ideal.