Can you use any image from Pinterest any way you want to? No!!!
See how folks are unwittingly robbing original creators of revenue and how bringing that point up got me banned from a Facebook group.
It’s All Free, Right?
The idea that anything online is free to download and use without permission or payment or even attribution is pervasive. But the fact is, creators are getting ripped off every day.
Unfortunately, Pinterest is a huge part of this problem, at least for images.
The Cost to Creators
The majority of my clients are in the following niches:
- Foodie
- DIY
- Crafts
They make money by running ads on their site.
The more folks they can entice to visit their site, the more money they make.
The majority of their traffic comes from Pinterest.
As one of those DIYers trying to get traffic from Pinterest to my woodworking site, I can attest to just how much work it is to create those posts with free info.
Each post takes 20 hours!!!
And yes, I deserve to be compensated for my time.
That includes being given proper attribution and credit as the originator of the work.
In other words, we WANT folks to share our pins on Pinterest. That means more traffic to our sites.
Stealing from Pinterest
What we DON’T WANT are folks stealing our images and then redirecting folks to their sites.
We also DON’T WANT folks using those stolen images to recreate what we took the time to make a tutorial on and never giving us proper credit as the originator.
That’s especially true if we sell the pattern or tutorial.
We miss revenue in every way possible.
We are robbed of direct traffic to our site, which results in loss of:
- Ad revenue
- Potential followers on our social media accounts
- Potential email subscribers
- Credit as a source of patterns/products
- Sales of those patterns, products
- Commissions from affiliate links
It’s not a little amount of money.
It’s the loss of our primary income.
And that means we can’t continue to run the site.
Would you give 20-40 hours of work away free every week?
What Happened in the Facebook Group
So, where does the scrollsaw group come into all this?
There’s BIG money in scrollsaw patterns.
When sharing a snapshot of their latest cut, most folks include the machine and blade they used and where they got their pattern.
I consistently saw a few pattern maker names pop up. But I also saw a lot of generic credits of Pinterest being the source of the pattern.
Knowing that pins are stolen all the time, I brought up the discussion about finding the creator and/or ensuring that the pattern was really for free and not stolen.
Ignorance Abounds
That set off an interesting discussion with 20+ folks literally arguing that everything posted on social media, or online anywhere, is free of copyright and falls into public domain.
Or that if they only do it for personal use and for gifts, that it’s okay.
Keep in mind that plenty of folks in that group are not just hobbyists. They make money selling at craft shows and online.
Copyright, Creative Commons, and Public Domain
Me, and three others in the group, encouraged folks to read the TOS of their favorite social media platforms, including Pinterest, and about the difference in copyright, Creative Commons, and public domain.
Here are the basics.
Copyright
If you post an original image or graphic online – anywhere – you hold the copyright to it unless you explicitly waive that right.
Here’s Pinterest’s Terms of Use
“Except in unusual cases, Pinterest is not the copyright holder in the images that users pin on the site. Where necessary, you should get permission to use an image from its copyright owner.”
Other social media platforms state something similar.
Basically, you retain copyright. The platform has the right to display it publicly and use in derivative creations, such as their advertising.
Creative Commons License
A Creative Commons license does not waive copyright. As the originator of the image, you still retain that.
And you alone define the terms of the Creative Commons License that you grant others.
That can include any or all of the following:
- Free to share the image
- Free to use the image
- Free to build upon a work you created
- Require attribution
- Restrict resale
There are 6 Creative Commons License types:
- Attribution (by) – if anyone wants to use your work, they need to ask permission first
- ShareAlike (sa) – you allow others to copy, display, or modify your work as long as they release their version under the same CC license
- NonCommercial (nc) – folks can personally make use of your work, but they can’t sell it directly
- NoDeriviatives (nd) – folks can distribute and display only copies of your original. But if they want to modify it, they have to get permission.
- The remaining 2 licenses are combinations of those above.
Public Domain
These are works that have no copyright or trademark.
In general, copyrights do not auto expire until 70 years after the creator’s death.
As of the writing of this post in 2019, any works published before 1924 are now public domain.
So NOTHING created new since 1924 that you see published on the internet can be considered public domain by default. Check to see that it is explicitly stated as holding no copyright or trademark.
How Will I Share My Patterns?
I’m an internationally recognized wood carver.
My work has been featured in magazines such as Woodcarving Illustrated and Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts.
Fox Chapel Publishing owns both of those magazines and is the premier publisher of all manner of woodworking books.
I could have published a book with them.
But here’s what I’ve decided to do instead.
For the past couple of years I have been following woodworker Ana White with great interest.
She makes all of her build tutorials for free for use.
And she encourages folks to share what they built with them, including a link back to their site – even if they have their own tutorial on their build.
What a wonderful community that makes!!!!!!!
So, I’m doing the same thing – posting my build plans for free under the Creative Commons license with a request for attribution.
And I’ll be the first person to post them on Pinterest too.
If I go back to scrolling, I’ll be posting those patterns the same way.
Yes, I know those images and pins are going to get stolen. And I know it becomes another side job to chase those down and get them removed.
But, I know that by doing things this way I’ll make more money than if I tried to sell those patterns in a book or as downloadables.
They Kicked Me Out
Bringing up the lack of proper attribution got me banned from the Scroll Saw For Beginners, Woodwork, Forum & Projects Facebook group.
That’s in spite of me mentioning the above about how I planned to share my own project plans.
I don’t know, maybe they thought I was going to become the Pinterest police or such.
The last post I saw was someone sharing a snapshot of their latest work and listing the source as Pinterest, followed by a defiant YES PINTEREST in all caps.
This sort of stealing, and the whole mindset that justifies it, is not new or exclusive to this group by any means.
But it’s also why I decided not to take up on an offer to create a book of scroll saw patterns.
Eventually they will all make their way into “public domain mindset” and I will no longer get credited, much less paid. Napster was one of the reasons I left the music biz too.
All I can hope is that I got banned for being principled and maybe it will make some folks think twice.
And maybe those stealing the images will remember that post when their hard work is stolen.
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Thanks for writing this post and calling out the group and the action! I was in a digital Etsy group where something similar happened. I think it will make people aware and think twice about what they’re doing. That being said, I think sometimes people need to create something digital and have it stolen before they will be outraged about their intellectual property.
My favorite excuse is from the folks who think they are doing no harm because they aren’t selling what they make from someone else’s pattern. And yes, those will likely be the first folks to scream when something of theirs is ripped off.
People have no idea how much work goes into creating content. Thanks for calling it out
I guess they’ll learn the hard way. And I’m sorry I didn’t get the opportunity to address all of the ways they are costing creators money. The most ignorant folks took the post sideways with aggressive arguments of everything being public domain. They’ll have the hardest lesson to learn from this.
Hopefully none of those folks try that with any images from Getty. That lesson will be an expensive one.
No kidding!!!!! I wish Pinterest would police their stuff like Getty does.
But these folks are not sharing stolen images, they’re just making use of them for their own gain.
Thanks for calling it out. No one “gets it’ until they get a cease and desist letter from lawyers with a potential BIG TICKET fine for using a copyrighted image. I see it all the time.
Creatives deserve a living too… and do unto others….
Sounds like a facebook party you don’t want to be a part of.
Agreed. I see folks in Pinterest and blogging groups talking about stolen pins all the time. And I know the average Pinterest user doesn’t have a clue about the signs of it.
I think Pinterest has a HUGE issue on its hands that has been out of control for years.
But, even if the pin is not stolen, folks in that group don’t make a habit of crediting the source if it comes from Pinterest.
Know what raises my hackles? I’m not a content creator, but I absolutely hate clicking “Visit site” on a pin only to find that it’s been hijacked. I WANT TO KNOW WHO CREATED THE CONTENT! That’s why I clicked on the link. Pinterest has lost a great deal of usefulness for me because of this behavior.
Oh my gosh YES!!!!!! Pinterest has a vested interest in cutting out stolen or spammy pins. It’s such bad user experience.
MaAnna, thanks for fighting this battle.
I see this problem in just about every forum I belong to…the vast majority of people understand nothing about copyright issues, and refuse to believe anyone who tries to straighten them out.
Just the other day, in fact, I was involved in a similar discussion: A guy was saying that he couldn’t find any suitable stock images for his blog, but he had seen some that would be great on a few Facebook pages. He was wondering if it would be OK to just take those photos and put them on his business blog.
When some of us said that would be wrong and illegal (without permission from the copyright owners), he (of course) didn’t want to believe it, and the last thing I saw him say was the he was actually *going* to do that, and it would be OK because he was going to give the image owners some kind of “credit” on his blog. I hope he gets caught…although even if he does get caught, nothing much will happen to him.
Same as you, I’ve been yelled at and chastised for trying to point out the facts…and often been accused of being a narrow-minded party-pooper when I have dared to raise the issue.
It’s great that you are fighting this…thank you…but I’m not optimistic about the way this whole thing is going…looks to me like the barbarians are winning.
My intent is to raise awareness, including the loss of community doing this sort of thing creates. I’m done fighting battles. I hope to lead by example on my own sites and continue to raise this awareness where it pops up.
Getting banned from that group ensures that I will not be able to continue to do it there. And thankfully I don’t see this issue in my other woodworking or blogger groups. In fact, the blogger groups are very quick to educate folks who are thinking about using the images of others in their round-ups, even if they planned to give proper credit. But, then, they are educated on this matter, too.
MaAnna thank you for bringing up the point in that group. Unfortunately, there’s a group of people that have exactly the same attitude Christian Nelson runs into. No amount of explanation gets them to believe you. What I have found is that I actually alienate some people when I get into debates like that and for a long time now, I just try and stay out of it. It’s also disheartening to think about which I find hard to deal with in my life.
We also run into many people, professional or amateur, that look at our designs and then make something very similar. We were even told once on the phone by a company that they were going to do that to us. While it’s not technically infringement since they didn’t copy anything directly, it’s another discouraging problem. These two reasons are why my partner, Sheila no longer designs scroll saw patterns at all even though she is the one that started the site and it’s still her name in our domain name.
I joined several blogging groups about a year ago. And it has taken this whole year of consistently answering questions and solving site issues for folks to stop listening to just who they know and to start listening to who knows what they are talking about.
I’ve been handed my hat in a few groups before, where the ignorant masses drowned me out. So, I’ve been very careful about how and when I reply in these new groups, including the one I was banned from.
I didn’t accuse anyone of wrong doing. I asked a question as a way to raise awareness. The controversy started when one very aggressive, ignorant person stated that everything posted anywhere online is public domain. And it went downhill from there.
I’m so sorry to hear that this sort of thing has stopped Sheila from making patterns. I hope she will read the part of the post again about what I plan to do with mine that actually creates community, like Ana White has done.
There are positive ways to deal with this too.
Keith said it all. Thank you for posting this and understanding.
Sheila, I hope you re-read the part of my post about how I plan to deal with this to create more community. I really do believe there are ways to be in the mix of it all and be a positive voice of change. But, I also respect why you may want to sit it out. I have zero intention of going back into the music business because of this same thing.
Thank you. I appreciate your comments and support. I do reconsider spending my time on making scrolling patterns. But it seems that every time I do, another incident like this takes place and it takes the wind out of my sails. I don’t want to (and cannot) spend my time doing things that aren’t respected or appreciated. I have other avenues to head, as you do, and choose to work in that direction in order to make a living. It doesn’t mean I will never come back to it, but it is very difficult to do so when there is no regard for the issues discussed here. It is a shame because I am not the first designer to feel this way and probably not the last. I have been doing this for over 25 years and have seen many talented people forced away from the scroll saw world because of it. Then people complain about not having access to quality designs. They don’t or won’t connect the dots.
Again – Thank you. :)
I appreciate your follow up, Sheila.
I think it’s up to the designers to educate where they can. I hope to do that through sharing my own designs. But getting kicked out of a group means no more opportunity to educate there.
Thank you so much for this post and the courage to stand up for intellectual property. So many unscrupulous people will never advance beyond their ability to copy. Keep fighting the good fight. – Devon from Columbus
I didn’t bring it up to fight about it, nor do I want to. My hope is to raise awareness and discuss. But, they decided there will be no discussion by not only banning me, but removing all of my posts and comments – including all of the ones where I was congratulating folks on their designs and cuts.