Not *knowing* if there are copyright problems is a sure sign that there are going to be. You can only publish images where you are sure that you have the license to publish them. Even if you have purchased a stock image you can run into trouble if you use it on Facebook, Google+ etc. because the photostock TOS usually forbid the distribution to a service that claims the right to distribute any uploaded image for themselves. This is the situation in Germany at least but i assume its the same in every country. Noone reads license agreements completely but thats the danger usually.

Well, let me tell you about my own experience. We were careless enough to use three cartoons on a regional community portal that a regular visitor had sent by email. On this page we had the very same disclaimer to be informed in case we violate any copyright, and we did not know who the cartoonist was and therefore didnt ask for permission. The “information” we got was a letter from the cartoon artists lawyer, who made up a calculation for three image being used for a certain period of time with a certain size of audience and came up with a bill of (i’m serious!) approx. 130,000 US$. After extensive negotiations we were able to argue the price down to 11,000 US$ and according to our legal advisors we got away pretty luckily with that relatively small amount. When you violate copyright laws the copyright holder is in a very strong position, being able to set the price on a very high level. 

Ann,

You don’t need a copyright symbol, or even an application for a copyright. Creative works, by definition, are copyright protected the very instant they leave the brain of their creator and land on the page/camera/napkin/computer/insert-media-of-choice.

At that moment in time, there right to protection of their work is absolute. That is why I said in a previous post that your best bet is to work with someone… or do it yourself. If you take a picture, and say “Hey everyone, share this!” you are completely within your legal rights to do so. But you can also say “Share this, but don’t modify it” and if anyone modifies it, you could sue them for copyright violation.

Jason

Copyright is different from country to country but what we do is play it safe and try to find the country with the strictest copyright rules and play by them.

Like @jasonreilly mentioned – if people say ‘share with everybody’ I’m pretty sure you can share but always via their page. Don’t add images when you don’t know where they came from. In that regards, Pinterest is also still an unknown because it seems to move in the grey area of image copyright. I think the US ruling is that you can show a thumbnail of an image as long as the link goes to the original website with the original image. But definitely something to research further!

When we use images, we often go to http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page  and try to find royalty / copyright free images that we can use. Always giving credit to the original creator or the website where the image was found.

For most of our commercial products we use stockphotos and images. You pay $1 – $5 per picture – and I can tell you it’s a lot cheaper than a legal cease & desist or @uwesiebel  ‘s example.
Hope this helps.

Hello Ann,

Yes, you probably can if you want too. And although individual actors might ignore the laws, that doesn’t mean lawyers and large content providers are. The RIAA and MPAA are both notorious for copyright actions, and companies such as the notorious (yet thankfully defunct) Rightshaven are popping up repeatedly to go after unknown copyright violators and seek huge settlements.

As an aside: there is fair use, but fair use never counts advertisement. If you think someone’s song is stupid, and you make a parody of it, that is covered under fair use by satire. Same with images. It’s a huge aspect of the marketing industry with a lot of issues, so I’ve been following it fairly closely. However, the courts are proceeding forward with dangerous precedent, so it’s anyone’s guess what the landscape will look like in a year. That’s why I strongly encourage you to source your own resources, and avoid others.

Jason

Hello @annfurnivall,

In my limited understanding Pinterest, and other sites that are known as content aggregators (i.e. theChive, FunnyJunk, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, YouTube, Reddit, etc), have certain protections under the DCMA (known as the Safe Harbor provisions), that as long as certain rules and laws are followed, prevent them from being sued. However, having complicated and difficult gates surrounding user interaction doesn’t benefit them. So they make the process simple, provide for take downs, and hide behind ‘caveat emptor’ when it comes to consumer interaction.

So, in the minds of Pinterest and marketing companies that have a stake in pushing social media marketing, giving out long lists of what NOT could inhibit user adoption and buy in of the technology. If people don’t adopt their service, then they don’t sign up, if they don’t sign up they don’t give personal information freely or allow the company to track interests that can be sold to marketers so that they can profit. Thus they say, “pin away!” And hope you don’t read the fine print (which in Pinterest’s case I do believe the fine print does point out the legal repercussions of using copyrighted material without permission). 

Anyway, I hope that answer was clear.

As for what I think about the millions of YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest users sharing jokes and images? I say it’s been done for centuries at bars, taverns, and camp fires around the globe. As someone who generates original content for a company that is trying to sell books (my second job) I LOVE when people start repinning my stuff… especially if it becomes sales of the book. But I’m a minority. Most content generators get very upset when they realize that someone else might be looking at their content, and might see a way to change it or make it better (Note: Up until recently this was protected as fair use, or we wouldn’t have five thousand different remakes of Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet… some of which I wish had never been made).

I could go on forever about copyright, but I’m not going too! You guys do not deserve being subjected to a Jason Rant.

Just my wife.

Jason

Wow….big issue.  Some people dropped out of Pinterest for these very concerns.  And Pinterest has made it clear that you’re liable for anything you pin.  Most people are happy for the publicity (as long as nobody is giving away a book that the writer is trying to sell or even worse, selling a book and making money off of it without an arrangement with the author.  I’ve got some rethinking to do I think…..

I just have a question regarding “#3: Find Creative Ways to Add More Photos” by Andrea from the post “9 Facebook Marketing Tips from Top Experts”. I’ve been wanting to this for a long time coz I know the big difference between posting pictures as against just links, but my concern is how it would affect copyright. Are we allowed to post photos from other sites? Some I’ve heard don’t allow it even if you attribute to the website by posting the link as well. Or do I have to just select those articles with a share button which in a way means that they’re willing to let you share those particular articles and the photos along with it. What really is the right etiquette for this? Thank you so much!