Hello all,
Anyone on here using Pinterest? I have just started using it - my god it is helpful - maybe it would be an idea to share or links?!? - here is mine;
cheers
Phil
You know I originally heard my girlfriend talking about it and without having used it, ignorantly wrote it off as a kind of a craft site. But I created an account and realized how useful it can be as a designer. I have made ‘boards’ for certain individual things that interest me or things that pertain to a certain project (organic forms, type-based graphics, lighting, fresh colorways, etc). It’s a great resource to ‘pin’ items to on a cloud basis. I can check out these boards from any computer and this makes it extremely useful just on the fly.
I’m not sure how old the site is, but it seems it has slightly limited content. But I assume with more users pinning their own content everyday, it can only get more diverse.
I had the exact view on it until a friend told me how useful it is the other day. I find it useful in the same way -brilliant if you find a bunch of really interesting stuff and just want to keep a visual note for later and no need to download a ton of images - I think it is still in its infancy
thats a great site. thanks for the info…
i didn’t knew about it. 
Then there’s this development:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-pinterest-is-it-a-facebook-or-a-grokster/
Think about it this way:
A girl posts 3 wedding dresses from a popular Bridal site on Pinterest. Popular Bridal site sees their images being used without their permission or without credit. That Bridal site would have a valid case against Pinterest to shut the site down. How is Pinterest not exactly the same as Napster?
Yea Im not sure how I feel about it. Someone got a hold of one of my photographs and posted it on pinterest. Within 2 days it was on 1500+ pinterest boards and all over the world on blogs and facebook pages being shared everywhere…with no photography credit.
Personally I prefer. https://svpply.com/emanc
Much less crafty-diy-wedding-stuff.
On the copyright issues. Watermark your images if your that worried about it? Tumblr, FFFound, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Countless of personal blogs, all do the same thing. Lots of people credit properly. many do not. Most professional photographers, watermark their images for this reason.
If an image I created is on 1,500 image boards. Good for me. It’s exposure. If someone really cares who created the image originally, they can reverse image search and find the source (Google, TinEye make it very easy to do that.) Example, I like a picture of a wedding dress and I really want to find out where to buy it I’m going to have to reverse image search to find the source. Those who care will eventually get to the source.
If no one cares about my image, but have been exposed to it in the past, thats good too. When they see my work, they’ll be like “I’ve seen that image before.” Even if it was credited properly people hardly remember who the image belonged to, they do remember the image though.
Also I have thousands of images saved to my inspiration folders. I have no idea where they came from. If I make a imageboard/collage from it and share it whats the difference?
Well then how is it any different from million individual blogs who post images? How is it different then when people on this board post an image? I think if they develop a good system of allowing a copywrite owner to have the images removed this will solve a lot of problems because my guess is MOST people or companies are happy to get the free advertising. If I was the owner of a bridal shop, and one of our dresses was all over pinterest and women were swooning over it, that’s more advertising then I could ever dream of.
Nothing different, which is exactly the point. We walk a fine line between fair use and copyright infringement all the time. It’s the beauty of the internet and social media.
Now, just to play devils advocate here… What if all those women weren’t swooning over your dress, but were instead going off on how ugly/expensive/offensive it was and it caused a huge uproar and you lost business. Now would you be so keen on Pinterest?
Don’t post it if you can’t handle it, or don’t want it flying about the Webz.
Our world has changed. The Copyright laws are antiquated. The music industry has figured out that music is a commodity. Digital Art is a commodity. It has little to no value anymore by itself.
There are ways of searching for your specific image on the web. If you’re building a brand based on your imagery, find them all, link to them to show how popular your images are/can be.
Think about it this way, the image you’ve created is done. You’ve very likely already made your money off that image. If it holds intrinsic value moving forward, do what’s already been said, watermark, post in low res only, etc. etc.
The times are changing. This Copyright debate is growing old and stupid. We can keep fighting over what used to be, or looking to the future and making plans on how to conquer the world based on the new landscape.
I think Pinterest is just the first in a long line of sites that are doing just this.
It is an interesting situation. Whilst it brings forth a ton of opportunity for three dimensional products it’s an issue for our two dimensional friends. just came across this rather interesting article;
If they get to cracking a way of getting around these issues they are going to be rolling in it. It brings up so much marketing opportunities. Though I’m considering how it will be used. Trending styles will be interesting to watch. It is very superficial. Changing every day. I imagine trend forecasters probably quaking in their Ugg Boots. Whether or not Pinterest succeeds, this seems to be the way the internet is moving; links upon links. Information seems to be becoming a service. Whether personal or tribal is another matter.
[quote=“NURB” Now, just to play devils advocate here… What if all those women weren’t swooning over your dress, but were instead going off on how ugly/expensive/offensive it was and it caused a huge uproar and you lost business. Now would you be so keen on Pinterest?[/quote]
It’s a super sized focus group. If the masses hate what you’re doing, you just got a quick free report that some business’s would pay a consulting group tons of money to find out the same thing. No one wants to lose business, but business’s need to adapt to new technology. You’re right, it’s a fine fine line and it’s get’s crossed but I believe if you play the game right, you can turn it in your favor.
Excellent point. I could see that as being very advantageous to a small (or large) business.
But what about an image service like Getty or iStock? Should Pinterest be allowed Safe Harbor status if their entire “business” is using images without permission? [as noted in the link previously posted] Getty and iStock make their living by selling images for licensed use. I’d have to think even if you’re posting the low-res sample or watermarked sample there’s still a grey area of acceptance there.
I know it’s a fine line, and honestly I personally don’t see a problem with it, but you have to admit we are in a very tumultuous time regarding image copyrights, and fair use sharing.
If I buy an istock/getty image, I can use it how I want. There are restrictions, mainly you can’t turn around and sell it. But I can post it for free on my website or pinterest. Now, if someone then goes and grabs that image and reposts it, I don’t know where that falls.
Very interesting article here:
Some highlights
If that didn’t scare Kirsten enough, the all caps section of Pinterest’s Terms of Use did.
Pinterest writes:
“YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU.”
Read more: > Lawyer Assesses Pinterest's Copyright Situation
“My initial response is probably the same as most of yours: ‘Why [can’t I pin their work]? I’m giving them credit and it’s only creating more exposure for them and I LOVE when people pin my stuff!’ But then I realized, I was unilaterally making the decision FOR that other photographer…Bottom line is that it is not my decision to make. Not legally and not ethically.”Read more: > Lawyer Assesses Pinterest's Copyright Situation
I saw that article as well. Very interesting discussion it takes.
The whole digital era is turning copyright on its ear. Music industry was first. The movie industry is getting hammered as we speak. Next is photo. It is commoditizing the arts.
This is an interesting development…
Pinterest users shop big–the average price tag is double that of a buy from a Facebook user. Visits from the social network have jumped 145% since January this year, and, as a source of revenue for stores Pinterest now contributes 17% of social media traffic–up from 1% in Q2 last year.
This on the day Facebook goes public…