[MR] Fwd: If you think about using Pinterest, please be aware...

[Cynthia Haggerty]

 I am posting (with permission) the very scary email I received recently on
a list serve I belong to for 12th century garb. It's something to think
about, your photos could be out there, without your permission... I know I
will never utilize this service. And if you use Pinterest, PLEASE do not
Pin any of my photos. I don't know where they might end up? Feel free to
pass this on, but use your own first paragraph and delete my information.
Thanks!

I ran into this and sent it to friends I knew or thought were "doing"
Pinterest. It's important to read and understand. It's more of what I
posted under the "A Request" thread ....

http://ddkportraits.com/2012/02/why-i-tearfully-deleted-my-pinterest-inspiration-boards/
Ok. We get into these things like thinking adults -- we THINK we are
working with ADULTS. But too many of these "newfangled" social media
ideas have been developed by kids ... kids who think nothing of
/sharing/ other people's intellectual property.
The writer of the above link is an attorney and a photographer who
/liked/ the idea behind Pinterest .... until she did some investigating.
I'm going to copy a key point of the write up. Read this, read the whole
site and then you make your own decision:
(Below here is from the article)
/And this is where I got really nervous./
/In several places in Pinterest’s Terms of Use, you, as the user, agree
that you will not violate copyright law or any other laws. And then
there is this:/
//“YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY
LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE,
APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU.” (yes, this is
in ALL CAPS right in their TOU for a reason).//
/And then, there is this:/
//“you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Cold Brew Labs, its
officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any
claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without
limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in
any way connected with (i) your access to or use of the Site,
Application, Services or Site Content, (ii) your Member Content, or
(iii) your violation of these Terms.”//
/This “defend and indemnify” stuff means that if some photographer out
there decides that he or she does not want you using that photogs images
as “inspiration” or otherwise and decides to sue you and Pinterest over
your use of that photog’s images, you will have to hire a lawyer for
yourself and YOU will have to hire a lawyer for Pinterest and fund the
costs of defending both of you in court. Not only that, but if a court
finds that you have, in fact, violated copyright laws, you will pay all
damages assessed against you and all damages assessed against Pinterest.
OUCH. Oh, but it gets better. Pinterest reserves the right to prosecute
you for violations. Basically, Pinterest has its keester covered and
have shifted all of the risk to you. Smart of them, actually since the
courts are still deciding whether the site owner or the user should be
ultimately responsible. Rather than wait for the decision, they have
contractually made you the responsible one. And you agreed. (And by
“you” I clearly mean “we”)./
/So, the next question is “how real is this risk and do I really need to
worry about getting sued for something everyone is doing?” Well, my only
response to that is to look at what happened with people who used Napster/

Jacintha