Thursday 13: 13 links re: Pinterest in the news

irst off: this is not an opinion piece. How you use or have used Pinterest (if you do) and how you feel about copyright issues isn't my business--until you take a photo of mine or a recipe of mine and claim it as your own. Then we'll talk!

But with the general vibe on the interwebs the past month or so, and the posts getting pinned around Pinterest as well, I felt like I needed to do a bit of investigation. (Work tends to get in the way of daytime pinning, go figure, and evenings I've been trying to disconnect a bit more, so I definitely feel a little late to this whole conversation.)

Second, the whole thing seems a bit anticlimactic now, anyway (see #11). Maybe. We'll see if the developments in recent days really do to protect the copyright of those who want it protected, in the way they want it protected.

However, what with my overt proselytizing of the gospel of Pinterest, I felt that I should, at the very least, share some of what I found.

This past weekend I finally read and researched the latest in regards to Pinterest's Terms of Use and how various artists are handling the issues that have come to light most recently, namely:

1. This is the first article I read: A Lawyer Who Is Also A Photographer Just Deleted All Her Pinterest Boards Out Of Fear. My mom forwarded it to me from a friend who had posted it on Facebook. 

2. Which led me to: How Pinterest removed all my pinned images in minutes (#1) (There is a follow-up #2 post you can link to from #1). I understand this artist's perspective that she doesn't want her stuff pinned, and was hopeful when I read it that Pinterest would GET that and assist her and other artists.

3. And then there are a few people who disagree about how big a deal this whole copyright conversation is, as this TechDirt article details.

4. That opinion is shared in this post: Copyright isn't the issue, you are.

5. And of course, the TechDirt article (in #3) pointed to a couple of posts by the copyright librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Her articles are here: Using Copyrightable Materials and A few clarifications on Pinterest/Copyright/TOS worries.

6. I appreciated these tips on: How to use Pinterest without breaking the law.

7. Pinterest, change your terms or we're leaving. Pretty straightforward.

8. My favorite sentence of this post, The genius of Pinterest's copyright dodge: "...the most likely outcome of this saga is not a Grooveshark-like end to Pinterest, but an admission by many publishers that they simply don't care what anyone does with their images, as long as it helps drive users back to their sites."

9. What people are talking about: Pinterest and copyright issues. Even more on the topic. Tired of it yet? I was getting a little filled up with it all!

10. Visual inspiration from Pinterest. This post doesn't address specific copyright issues, but I learned a bit about how to better use Pinterest, and by the time I got to this piece, I was tired of even thinking about these issues! (Specifically: Skitch, and I second her ideas about private boards--can I get a holla, Corinne?--and RSS feeds.) (My gifted florist friend Corinne has competitors follow her and glean ideas from the places SHE gleans ideas from, and so there's this feeling like she's doing all the work, and others are benefiting. Private boards would be great!)

11. Finally, after weeks of controversy and not really meeting the issue head on, Pinterest addresses issues with a copyright infrigement legality statement. And another piece on the same topic, but from CNET here. We'll see if the artists that don't want their work on Pinterest will be pleased with this outcome. And I'm curious to see how big the clean-up is to the past pins... will our boards be depleted? Probably not mine, as I rarely post to my Pretty Pictures board. Most of the bloggers/sites I pin from are asking you to pin and spread the word on their craft, recipe, etc.

Which leaves me with two more items to fulfill my Thursday 13, and I'm sick to death of this topic. What to do?

Oh, I know! How about two images from Pinterest that I found recently, and adore... seems only fitting. Both are crocheted items, and made me smile.

etsy shop

etsy shop

That's all from this peanut gallery today! I hope you're having a lovely Thursday, and if you're not a Pinterest fan/freak, I doubt you've made it this far. But if you are, I hope it's been at least a little bit helpful. What with the last post, Pinterest's statement and resolution to the issue, it might all be moot. But still, the more you know, right?

For more Thursday 13s, go here. Happy Thursday!

(We have snow. Just had to mention that. On March 22. How nuts is that? My poor apricot tree with it's frosty blossoms...)