Anybody who knows me, knows how open I am to the thought of internet sharing and linking all sites so I have a seamless experience.  However, one part of Pinterests terms worried me so much I have left them.

When I joined I believed that they wanted us to share everything and they would retain a link to it so you could share your friends work, or anything you found and it would be linked back to the original site.  This is something us artists have been crying out for sites to do automatically so I joined and started to share.  However, reading the TOS it actually says,

You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that: (i) you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to Cold Brew Labs the rights in such Member Content, as contemplated under these Terms; and (ii) neither the Member Content nor your posting, uploading, publication, submission or transmittal of the Member Content or Cold Brew Labs’ use of the Member Content (or any portion thereof) on, through or by means of the Site, Application and the Services will infringe, misappropriate or violate a third party’s patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other proprietary or intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy, or result in the violation of any applicable law or regulation….

So, asking you to share things from around the www is actually against their own TOS as most artists and photographers on their own sites ask you NOT to take their images to print out for for any other purpose.  It is a fact that you should ask permission before using someone elses images in some way and, once printed (as Pinterest allows you to) then the original artist is lost

I decided I did not want to be on a site that asked you to share anything you found but, actually only allows it to be your own work, according to its TOS …

Cold Brew Labs will have the right to investigate and prosecute violations of any of the above to the fullest extent of the law. Cold Brew Labs may involve and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who violate these Terms…

I did not want to be on a site that is making money from you without you being aware.

Pinterest generates revenue by adjusting and tracking the links attached to user-generated pins, by using a service called Skimlinks to add affiliate links to products….when a link directs a visitor to a retailer involved in the affiliated network and makes a purchase, the merchant will pay the affiliated network, who will then pay the publisher. Skimlinks takes about 25% of the generated affiliated revenue…..in other words every time you sell something shown on the site they make money….
The cause of concern by some is that Pinterest doesn’t disclose that it modifies the links you place by adding a tracking code on the site. Information from Pinterest.com and Mashable via Twitter.

and finally, I did not want to be on a site that can see into your private Facebook account and that is the only way you can join in.

In order to access certain features of the Site, Application and Services and to post any Member Content on the Site, Application or through the Services, you must register to create an account (“Account”). You must register with Pinterest through your account with certain third party social networking services, including, but not limited to, Facebook and Twitter (collectively, “SNS”).

When you register through your SNS account, you will be asked to login to the Services using your SNS account credentials….you are therefore allowing Pinterest to access your SNS account information and you are agreeing to abide by the applicable terms and conditions of your SNS in your use of the Services via such SNS 

Pinterest is a beautiful looking site but the way it is spelled out in the TOS and the way it is laid out when you first join up, make it a double edged sword in my eyes.  ANything that is a double edged sword is something I do not want to be a part of.

PHOTOGRAPHY & THE LAW : Reading & Understanding Your Rights

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