• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • ⭐ FREE Web3 Course
  • 💡 Society
  • 🗓️ Our Events
    • Social Media Marketing Workshops
    • Social Media Marketing World 2024
    • Marketing Events
    • Web3 Events
  • ⚙️ Tools
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Marketing Agency Show
    • Web3 Business Podcast
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🎯 Partner With Us
    • Podcast Sponsorship
    • Email Sponsorship
      • Email Newsletter
      • Dedicated Email Blast
    • Event Sponsorship
      • Social Media Marketing World
    • Tools Sponsorship
  • 👋 About Us
    • Our Story
    • Articles
      • Web3
      • Instagram Marketing
      • Facebook Marketing
      • YouTube Marketing
      • LinkedIn Marketing
      • TikTok Marketing
      • Expert Interviews
  • Search
  • Online WorkshopsIn-Depth Social Marketing TrainingLEARN MORE NOW

    How to Find and Report Stolen Pins on Pinterest

    by Susanna Gebauer / November 20, 2018

    social media how toDo you add pinnable images to your blog posts? Are others using your images to drive traffic to their own content?

    In this article, you'll learn how to identify and report copyright infringement for your pins on Pinterest.

    How to Find and Report Stolen Pins on Pinterest by Susanna Gebauer on Social Media Examiner.
    How to Find and Report Stolen Pins on Pinterest by Susanna Gebauer on Social Media Examiner.

    What Are Stolen Pinterest Pins?

    Have you ever discovered one of your pins in your Pinterest feed, but it's linking to the wrong content? A stolen Pinterest pin is when another pinner takes one of your images but relinks it to their content. They're using your brand, hard-earned reputation, and the marketing power your pin has already earned to push their own website.

    Having your branded pin link to a shady website can hurt your brand and reputation and make people lose trust in you.

    Why Are People Stealing Pins?

    If one of your pins starts spreading on Pinterest and receives a considerable amount of repins and clicks, the stolen pin relocates some of that marketing success to the website it now links to. Because Pinterest knows it's the same image that already earned visibility, it will keep showing that pin to pinners.

    stolen pinterest pin example

    The reasons for stealing a pin are basically what marketing is all about: traffic, branding, trust, and SEO power (because every pin is a link back to a website). The people who steal pins want all of that marketing success without working for it.

    How Can You Identify Stolen Pins?

    If you hover your mouse cursor over a pin in your Pinterest feed, the website the pin links to shows at the bottom of the pin, as shown in the image below. If you see one of your pins but it doesn't link to your URL, you've found a stolen pin.

    Be careful when you repin pins from your Pinterest feed. Make sure you aren't pinning stolen pins and giving them additional marketing success.

    With other peoples' pins, you can compare the link that shows when you hover over the pin with the branding of the pin. Many bloggers and marketers use the website URL or their logo to brand their pin. If you click on a stolen pin, the website the pin now links to will open, not the website from which the pin was taken.

    pinterest pin hover for link to compare with pin branding

    You don't need to follow the account that's stealing your pins to see the stolen pins. The reason for this is Pinterest's smart feed. Pinterest adds pins to your feed they think you might like, and you get recommendations based on the images you've already pinned.

    If someone pins your pin image with a new link, there's a good chance it will appear as a recommended pin in your feed because you've probably already pinned this image before.

    🌟 Ready to Supercharge Your Social Marketing Strategy? 🌟

    Social Media Marketing Workshops

    Struggling with your social marketing? You’re not alone. The solution? The Social Media Marketing Workshops!

    During these live 2 hour deep-dive workshops, you'll discover what's working now on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Skyrocket your engagement, broaden your reach, and amplify your sales.

    Become the marketing hero your company and clients need—without leaving your home!

    🔥 Save $670 on an All-Access Ticket! Sale Ends Tuesday! 🔥

    GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

    What Can You Do About Stolen Pins?

    By stealing pins that have already earned some Pinterest visibility, these thieves try to take a shortcut to marketing success at your expense. They're breaking copyright rules and Pinterest's terms, so naturally, it's in your interest and Pinterest's as well to do something about that. And luckily, you can and should.

    Here's how to report a stolen pin that's your intellectual property to Pinterest.

    #1: Report a Pinterest Pin

    First, open the stolen pin and click on the three dots at the top left of the pin image and select Report Pin.

    pinterest report stolen pin from three dot menu

    Now you see a list of things you can report. For stolen pins, you want to report a copyright infringement, so select My Intellectual Property.

    pinterest report pin options my intellectual property

    On the next page, you have to choose between copyright or trademark infringement. The stolen pin is a copyright infringement, so select This Infringes My Copyright.

    pinterest report pin this infringes my copyright

    #2: Provide Your Contact Information

    Now you have to fill out the Copyright Infringement Notification form that opens. First, enter your name and contact information.

    pinterest copyright infringement notification form

    Tools Resource Guide

    Looking for something to make your life easier?

    Discover the tools we recommend to drive engagement, save you time, and boost sales across your entire marketing funnel or business.

    Whether you need help planning content, organizing social posts, or developing your strategy, you’ll find something for every situation.

    FIND YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL

    #3: Provide Proof of Ownership of Your Pin

    Next, you need to “prove” that this image is indeed yours. The easiest way to do that is if the image is still on your website and you can link to the article that features the image.

    pinterest report pin proof of ownership identify your work

    It's easy to prove the pin is your property if you branded the image. A branded pin also allows you to report pins that are no longer on your website, which might happen if you create a new pin design for an article and take down the old pin.

    You can brand your images with your website or blog URL, a name, or a logo. In all cases, it's relatively easy for Pinterest to check if the image is indeed your property.

    examples of ways to brand your pinterest pins

    On the copyright infringement form, the URL of the pin in question is prefilled. Below that, you have to make a choice: Do you want to have all instances of the pin in question removed?

    If you select Remove All, you tell Pinterest to remove all identical copies of the pin. Don't check this option if you want to be sure that your original pin with the link to your website isn't removed. If your pin is still new but already stolen, you might want to go the Remove All route.

    identify by url the stolen pinterest pins you would like removed

    #4: Decide Whether to Assign a Strike

    There's one more important option you need to consider. You don't want to have to keep on removing stolen pins in growing quantities; you want to get rid of the problem. That's what the Strike option is for.

    It's one of the most critical choices in your copyright infringement report. If users report and strike the same Pinterest account over and over again, Pinterest will terminate the account in question.

    assign strike against the offending pinterest account

    Because the problem with stolen pins on Pinterest is growing, this is the only chance we have right now to stop these bad practices. If you don't choose Strike, your pin will be removed, but the thief will go unscathed and most likely will keep stealing pins.

    #5: Submit Your Copyright Infringement Report to Pinterest

    Now confirm you're the copyright owner for this image and the information you provided is accurate. Then sign the form and submit your report.

    pinterest report stolen pin confirmation and electronic signature

    Once you submit your copyright infringement notification, you'll get a confirmation number. Then you just have to wait for Pinterest to respond.

    pinterest report stolen pin request submitted with confirmation number

    Typically, if your request is legitimate and you've submitted enough information for Pinterest to verify that the image is yours, you'll get an email within a couple of days after submitting your copyright infringement notification.

    The pin you reported will get removed within a couple of hours. To check if the stolen pin is deleted, click the link to the pin in the email. If the pin has been removed, the link won't lead anywhere.

    pinterest stolen pin report dmca notification email

    Pro Tip: If you have to report a large number of pins and want to track if the pins are taken down, add your confirmation numbers to a spreadsheet and check whether Pinterest has taken action in each case.

    Conclusion

    We all can spread the word about the problem of stolen pins on Pinterest. The more people who are aware of this problem, the more likely people won't repin and spread these stolen pins.

    Unfortunately, you can't report stolen pins from others you recognize; only the owner of the pin can report the stolen pin. But you can and should make sure you never repin a stolen pin. If you pin on Pinterest, check the content that's linked to a pin. The best way to do that is to click through to the content from the pin. If the pin doesn't lead you to the domain you expected, the pin is likely stolen.

    You can also check if a pin still links to the original source if the pin is branded with a logo, name, or URL. If the linked website that shows when you hover with the mouse over the pin doesn't match the pin's branding, the pin is probably stolen. Never repin a pin that doesn't link where it's supposed to.

    If more people report their stolen pins, hopefully either the stealing of pins will become too much of a nuisance to the thieves or Pinterest will come up with a better solution to this problem.

    What do you think? Do you ever come across pins that aren't linking back to your website? Have you filed copyright infringement reports with Pinterest? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

    More articles about protecting your content:

    • Learn how to file a DMCA takedown notice to protect your content from plagiarists and content scrapers.
    • Find four steps to legally safeguard your blog content from copyright infringement.

    Get Your FREE Course: Web3 for Beginners

    Web 3 for Beginners

    Curious about Web3, but don't know where to start or who to trust?

    Introducing Web3 for Beginners, a course taught by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

    Learn the basics of Web3 and apply it to your business with this FREE comprehensive course.


    CLICK HERE TO GET FREE ACCESS

    Tags: Pinterest

    About the authorSusanna Gebauer

    Susanna Gebauer is a marketing blogger at The Social Ms. She teaches bloggers and entrepreneurs how to grow their business on a small budget using online marketing.
    Other posts by Susanna Gebauer »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (37 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Web3

    Next Frontier Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 15th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 400,000 marketers!

    Enter your email to get
    our free report:


    Footer

    Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
    Copyright © 2023 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS
    • Accessibility