Can You Afford Pinterest???

I enjoyed my Pinterest boards....they were so pretty and it was relaxing to just go and look at all the pretties from gardens to jewelry and everything you can imagine in between! I have sadly deleted them all.

Why would I do this when I enjoyed it so much? Well, like so many things, it has gotten ugly out there and lawsuits are a very real possibility. If you belong to Linkedin, as I do, I am sure you are aware of all the chatter going on where Pinterest is concerned.

I hope I am not in any violation in reprinting this to my blog for all of you on Pinterest to consider.....

LinkedIn Groups
Group: HANDMADE NEWS
Discussion: Can you afford Pinterest?
For the first time when using one of these social sites i took the time to read about it first.Yes for the first time.When I signed for FB, Google+,Twitter and all the rest I just clicked the box.The difference this time was that a friend of mine was sued not long ago for breach of copyright.She had used a picture from the net to help her market her items.It was a very costly mistake.Basically when we pin something we are using someones pictures to help someone make money and it is not the owner of the picture.The next concern I had was when I read I was going to be liable for legals for Pin Interest as well if there ever was an issue.As a small person in this business world I just cant afford that.I do understand that the chances of me being sued are small but I am not going to allow any more risk factors to come into play.Etsy took the liberty of adding Pin Interest to their site without asking us sellers.I think this was not a very nice thing to do because they also didnt inform us of the pros and cons of using it either.They get to make money off the pictures that are pinned now as well.So I guess you can say well they make money off them anyways so what is a few more cents? The difference is that the contract I signed in for was for a site that basically works like a co-op and we all get the benefit of the group size.I pay for my listing and for sale and this effectively is my commitment to the site.I didnt give permission for my pics to be used in any other way that in the store I set up.So now Etsy says what?if you dont like it go somewhere else.I cant even block pinning of my pics from my store and so in some ways I am adding to the problem because by not doing anything it is implied as permission.
I choose not to play for many reasons.I do not say to anyone else to do what I do.I do say however, BE INFORMED.Ask questions, if you dont understand the answers, ask more and make sure you are comfortable with the information you get in reply.After all Pin Interest is not going to look after you if there is an issue.It says so in the fine print.
Just my two cents worth.
Tanya

Posted by Tanya Boden

Thank you so much for stopping by....I missed St. Pat's Pink Saturday as we had so much going on here...Allie went off with newly made friends to the big St. Pat's day parade in downtown and then the girls had plans all day and so we were running them around and having fun, too. Green ketchup from Burger King was on the schedule! Now how do you suppose they make it green???

Talk soon!
♥ Jil