Pinterest Controversy, Oh No!!!

{all photo's from Pinterest}

Here I sit at 5am in the morning, unable to sleep any more.

The wind is howling on my mountain top.

I laid in bed for hours just listening to it

whipping wildly through the pines.

{vintage rose garden tumblr}

As my coffees brewing in the pot,

it's rich aroma stimulating my thoughts,

I think to another situation that seems to be brewing

on the horizon. It seems Pinterest has a bit of controversy

regarding Copyright Infringement...yikes, really.

{curious sofa}

As I understand it, Pinterest pinners are pinning pictures...

{sounds like a crazy tongue twister to me, lol}

that some original owners don't want pinned.

They feel their copyright & ownership of this content

is being infringed upon. If their photograph is going to

be used in a blog post, like I'm doing right now,

they want to be asked permission first. 

{red river antiques etsy}

Now this isn't everyone, just some.
I mean I DO get it. I do get that original art work is the sole
property of the artist. I know there are unscrupulous people
out there that claim other people's art as their own, or even
copy & try to sell it. Not only is that incredibly wrong & rude,
it's incredibly illegal too! But do I think that's what most of
the people on Pinterest are doing? No, I do not.

{magnolia pearl by vintagesusie}
An example with photography. I took the picture above at Marburger
in the Magnolia Pearl booth...I ADORE all of her ruffles. I posted it
on my blog along with many other pictures of my trip to Texas. The
reality is, as soon as I uploaded this image onto the internet it was no
longer just mine. Anyone could Google my blog or Google Maggie Pearl
& they could have it in minutes to do with as they want. If it was
important to me that no one use this photo & claim it to be their
own, which it was not, I would have 'watermarked' it.
'Watermarking' is a great way to make sure your
photo is referenced back to you.

{sarah clemens clothing etsy}

I guess my thought is, long before Pinterest was even created,

people were going onto the internet & saving favorite images directly

to their computers & what they did with those images has always been

hard to control. I know copyright is a very important issue, but I don't

think we can be naive enough to think we can mandate, legislate or

sue users or the internet into submission. That would be like trying

to control the tides or hold back the hands of time.

{the met}

Along with amazing technology, comes a lot of personal responsibility.

What we can do is be careful about what we put on the internet, because

once it's there...it never goes away. If there is any question that an image

may be used inappropriately, watermark, watermark, watermark.

{fleaing france tumblr}

I LOVE Pinterest! I really do!!!

To me Pinterest is a site filled with beauty, inspiration & life.

It inspires me to want to sew, knit, paint, wire, solder & pound.

It ignites the wonder in me as I research vintage clothing, jewelry,

costume design, the Victorian era & Tsar's & Tsarina's. 

It has introduced me to so many new creative people & places

where inspiration resides. It has helped people find me &

encouraged them to take a look at my blog & websites.

{plain & elegant antiques}

Pinterest can also be great free advertising for smaller businesses

& I love that too. I have already bought several things that I've pinned,

that I was able to link back to their original source.

So, here's my answer to the Pinterest Controversy. Pinterest is trying to

address the copyright issue. If you go to the Pinterest Blog, they have a html

code that you can add to any website that you don't want to have pins taken from.

I am going to try & only pin images that have an original source, not just Google.

I like pinning from etsy when someone has something for sale. I feel that may

give a seller an edge & help encourage more creative etsy product images. If

I use an image on my blog, I will make sure I link it back to it's original source.

And finally, if I add an image to the web that I'm concerned about people copying

inappropriately, I will WATERMARK it. There, I've solved World Peace!! LOL

{kreestal tumblr}

We, the Pinner's, are all kindred spirits.

We are looking for beauty in everyday life.

We are sharing our joys & our passions.

We are the visionary's. We are the doers.

We are the dreamers.

Now go forth & PIN!!!

XOXO

vintagesusie