To Pin or Not To Pin... (Warsaw IN Wedding Photographers)

This post could make me unpopular if I don't first state this- I LIKE Pinterest. Please don't get me wrong. It's a really great idea, and it is just plain fun to use. (I have a Pinterest account- Me! and you are welcomed to follow me or check me out)

However, if you are using Pinterest, you may not be aware of some of the details and etiquette involved.

A couple weeks ago the internet (as I see it) exploded with articles by & for photographers about the evils and dangers of using Pinterest. Of particular interest was an blog post by a photographer/lawyer- Why I tearfully deleted my Pinterest Inspiration Boards and her follow up post after meeting with the creator of Pinterest, My Date with Ben Silbermann.

I'm linking this because I feel they are of interest if you use Pin Boards, and I cannot go into the legal detail she does. If you don't want to read it all, the bottom line is this- Don't PIN things that don't have a Pin It button. You could, in theory, be sued for pinning content that you don't own or have permission to Pin.

And tying in with that- If you are Pinning be sure you are doing so directly from the source. If you are taking the easy route and re-Pinning something, please be sure the Pin goes back to the original content. Aside from being polite, it ensures that the Pin is actually for something, be it an image, a recipe, or a tutorial. Nothing is more frustrating than clicking on a Pin to make homemade croissants, and finding that there is no recipe attached.

It's great to Pin! It's addictive to Pin! It's fun to Pin! Just be sure you are doing it right, and you know what you've agreed to, via the Pinterest Terms of Use before you find yourself in some kind of trouble.

To finish off, Pinterest's ToU declares that they own the copyright to any image that is pinned to a pin board. As a photographer, someone who creates images, that is frustrating, as I like to hang on to my rights, thank you. (It's fairly common for this to happen these days- Facebook takes the rights, as does Twitter) We decided to try adding a Pin It button to our blog posts for a while, to see if it was worth the advertising potential. So for now, you have my blessing to Pin from the Double K Blog! If we decide to stop, you'll see the Pin It button disappear, and from that point we'd appreciate you respect our decision to not Pin our work.
Pin It