Source: google.com via Diego on Pinterest
If you are even remotely connected to the real estate interwebs you have seen all the buzz lately from real estate agents about Pinterest.
Pinterest is booming, according to some it is “the fastest growing social network site in Internet history.” As such, real estate agents are flocking to the site in their never-ending quest for lead generation nirvana. Shortly after Pinterest “jumped the shark,” agents began barfing real estate listings all over the shiny “new” social network.
I wonder though, how many agents actually read the Pinterest Terms of Service (TOS) when they signed up for the account that is sure to bring them untold wealth, fame and clients?
Just in the past week or so, dozens of articles have been penned regarding potential copyright issues with Pinterest. (The best article I’ve found on the subject is by photographer / attorney Kirsten Kowalski – Why I Tearfully Deleted my Pinterest Inspiration Boards. Go. Read it. I’ll wait.)
What I see mentioned far less often than the copyright issue is the “ownership issue” — that being what Pinterest can do with things you “pin” on their site.
It’s pretty scary stuff.
From the Pinterest TOS:
Except as expressly provided in these Terms, Cold Brew Labs and its licensors exclusively own all right, title and interest in and to the Site, Application, Services and Site Content, including all associated intellectual property rights. (My emphasis in bold.)
and
By making available any Member Content through the Site, Application or Services, you hereby grant to Cold Brew Labs a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit such Member Content only on, through or by means of the Site, Application or Services. (My emphasis in bold and red.)
Huh.
Now I’m no attorney, nor am I an expert in copyright law or intellectual property rights, but it sure looks like if you pin an image on Pinterest the owner of the site can do pretty much whatever they want with it. They can use it, modify it, sell it, and exploit it. In short, they own what you post to their site.
And there is further verbiage in their TOS that shoulders YOU with all the responsibility of pinning material you have the right or permission to use. They absolve themselves of responsibility for what you post on Pinterest.
That should cause you to pause, and ponder. And consider the implications.
But I only…
Here is what I see many real estate agents saying about Pinterest (I paraphrase. Just look in the countless posts, comments, Facebook Groups, etc that are sprouting up like the weeds in my front yard if you want specific examples.)
There is no copyright issue if I pin from the original source. The pin has a link to the source!
Well, attribution alone isn’t enough. You can’t copy a blog post, a web page, a book or a song and simply link back to the orignal and thereby be absolved of a copyright violation.
Plus, are you really linking back to the original source? Every time? Take a look at the image at the top of this article. I embedded that from Pinterest, using the code they provided. See just under the image where is says, “Source: google.com”?
Yeah, that’s not the original source…
Ironically, Google indexed that image from the Pinterest blog. Is that blog the original source? Maybe, maybe not. Even if it is the original source, do you have the right to republish it? Maybe, maybe not. The person that would ultimately decide that could very well be the judge hearing the copyright infringement case you and your attorney are trying to defend. Oh, and speaking of that, should you be sued for Pinning something you shouldn’t, the Pinterest TOS lets you know that you get to pay for your lawyer, and theirs.
I only pin my own images!
Okfine, knock yourself out. Just remember, once you pin your own image, Pinterest can do whatever they want with it. Per the Pinterest TOS, the moment you clicked “Pin It” you agreed to give Pinterest the “right to sublicense, to use, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast, access, view, and otherwise exploit” your image. If you are OK with that, then go ahead and Pin your own images.
Just don’t call them “your own” once you pin them…
Sharing on Pinterest is no different than sharing on Facebook, YouTube, whatever!
Maybe, maybe not. Did you read (really read) the TOS’s for those sites? Or did you do what probably 99.9% of people do (myself included) and just check the box that said, “I agree to these terms”? Be honest…
Facebook has been publicly eviscerated in the not-so-distant past for privacy concerns. YouTube regularly gets press for shutting down accounts and is filled with song videos where you’ll see something like, “No copyright violation is intended by posting this video”. That one always cracks me up. Like saying just because you don’t intend to infringe on someone’s copyright makes it OK.
But I haven’t heard a copyright / ownership backlash against these other “sharing sites” like I’ve heard against Pinterest. Maybe they are just as equally guilty. I don’t know, I haven’t really read their TOS with a critical eye… Yet.
The Bottom Line
If you enjoy Pinterest, and MANY people do, then enjoy it. Personally, I don’t think it will ever be a lead generation machine. I’m just not convinced that people go to Pinterest to search for homes and I am fully convinced that home search registration is (far and away) the primary avenue for generating buyer prospects on the internet.
Can you connect with people on Pinterest? Of course you can. It has great potential to be a vehicle for seeing what sort of things appeal to others. Find some common ground, find something mutually appealing with someone, and you’ve got a connection. Or at least the potential for a connection. Should that connection ultimately lead to business, well good for you.
Not every social network needs to have a business ROI for every business imaginable. Maybe Pinterest isn’t the right venue for generating real estate business. Maybe it is. Hey, if I owned a restaurant, I would be ALL OVER Pinterest pinning images of my food, of clients enjoying their meal, what ever. Closer to the real estate space, if I was a home stager, I’d be pinning before and after images of my staging efforts.
I’ve seen some killer boards by real estate agents that show off their community. That’s a terrific way to gain exposure for the neighborhood, which obviously has positive connotations for a real estate agent’s business of selling homes in that neighborhood.
Just be sure when you pin those images you have the proper license to do so, or that you’re willing to give up your rights if they are your own images. Otherwise, the potential for “sinning” is huge.
For me, it’s not worth the risk. Your mileage may vary.
Others Opine:
The always brillant Jeff Turner gives us these gems: Pinning For Gold and Why You’re Not Winning At Social Media.
Emmy Basch on Active Rain: Just Say No – To Pinterest
The Obeo Blog – Pinterest for Real Estate Agents- Make it Social “It’s not about selling properties, it’s about building relationships that lead to business.” Amen.
The UK Telegraph – Flickr blocks Pinterest ‘pinning’
Social Media Today – Pinning Copyright Complaints on Pinterest
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
This was the part I took away from this article: “I’m just not convinced that people go to Pinterest to search for homes and I am fully convinced that home search registration is (far and away) the primary avenue for generating buyer prospects on the internet.” Search registration. Search. Registration.
Wow, I’m thrilled I haven’t gotten in Pinterest yet! I’m not sure if it REALLY matters to me at the end of the day, but knowing this BEFORE I starting pinning things is a great wake up call and enough to convince me that I don’t really need to be on their site for now. Thanks for the heads up Jay!
Finally, a voice of reason speaking out to the massive herd of lemmings falling into the social media seas….
I didn’t fall for the Pinterest craze. After reading others who send they spent hours looking at photos I realized it was a time sucker and didn’t see the value for real estate. If you want to go and look at pictures great. If you want to generate leads for your real estate business create compelling local real estate content and provide a good IDX search.
I’m so glad I didn’t fall prey to all the swooning I’d be hearing and reading about Pinterest and sat back to see what benefit it any it held. This article is fantastic Jay and reinforces my decision not to ride the Pinterest wave.
Excellent! I read that article from Kirstin Kowalski too, and wondered why I kept seeing nothing but positive articles about Pinterest in the days since. Very concerning and too bad, it is very interesting site that I can see agents showing people about their likes and interests – find a common ground/make a new connection based on similar interests. I like your examples of using your own images, like a stager before and after, but then… by doing so, you give Pinterest all those rights to use and sell etc etc. Thank you for stepping up and writing this!
I’m a sinner but I’m not a Pinner. 🙂
I have never been to the site, pretty sure that won’t change any time soon.
Nice work (as usual) my friend.
Forgive me for I have sinned! Love the title. We have enough websites to post our listings to….
David Pylyp
Living and Sinning in Toronto
Many consumers want to Pin the images they find while reading your posts. For me, it’s a trendy and kind experience to offer your readers, given you own the copyright to your images. We started offering the Pin option on our blogs a few weeks ago. It’s not at all about lead generation. It’s not at all about connecting people to specific homes. It’s only about enriching the blog experience for those who wish to have the Pin experience.
Many consumers want to Pin the images they find while reading your posts. For me, it’s a trendy and kind experience to offer your readers, given you own the copyright to your images. We started offering the Pin option on our blogs a few weeks ago. It’s not at all about lead generation. It’s not at all about connecting people to specific homes. It’s only about enriching the blog experience for those who wish to have the Pin experience.
@NashvilleBrian I put a Pin It button here as soon as it came out. After digging into the TOS, I took it down. I don’t use my own images exclusively, so I didn’t feel comfortable enabling people to Pin things and assume they would make the effort to link back to the original source. I have NOT added the code to prevent people from Pinning on their own, but I’m considering it. IMO, there is just too great a risk of copyright violation with teh way Pinterest has set up their TOS.
Never heard of it but will have to go and have a look now. I understood the copyright about images. However, I do have a posterous account where I store articles of interest as i surf…I scoop them up in full, share to posterous and there is a automatic ‘via the telegraph’ etc at the bottom of the post.Am I in danger? Should I mind my own articles being used with a source and link back to my website?
Jay: I agree with your point about consumer home searches, and still don’t get the connection between real estate sales and the Pin-up site. For me, it seems like a risk-reward battle that is clearly won by risk in this case.
I’ve taken a look at the site and as far as I can tell its mainly a place for home makers to post up pictures and notes about recipes. I don’t see there being a high rate of conversion for listings posted on this website. This website is a waste of time and will have no bearing on the market. Thanks for opening my eyes to this one so I can avoid it.
I’ve taken a look at the site and as far as I can tell its mainly a place for home makers to post up pictures and notes about recipes. I don’t see there being a high rate of conversion for listings posted on this website. This website is a waste of time and will have no bearing on the market. Thanks for opening my eyes to this one so I can avoid it.
After registering on the site and being thoroughly confused as to how to use it, I periodically got emails that people were connected to me on the platform, even though my pin board was blank. I was never interested in getting into it, and I guess I’ll never regret it.
I have a hard enough time keeping up with the other social networks, fortunately I haven’t gotten to Pinterest yet. Copyright issues with photos is such a muddy pool to swim in I needed some time to think before venturing in anyway. From the posts popping up now I see I was wise to wait. Thanks for the post Jay. I probably won’t bother at all now.
I agree, some people are taking these social networks a little too far. Thanks for the post!
Pinterest is been awesome not only for Real Estate and for others business too.
Great article. I always wonder how much social networking sites actually help businesses.
The person that would ultimately decide that could very well be the judge hearing the copyright infringement case you and your attorney are trying to defend.
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Yes, I have also a little bit knowledge of the pinterest and I think It is an amazing social network for the internet marketers.
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Yes, I have also a little bit knowledge of the pinterest and I think It is an amazing social network for the internet marketers.
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Gotta agree. I have been thinking it might be nice to post photos of listings. But the thought of giving away all rights to anyone else just sounds downright Un-American to me…
Awesome post , very informative too..
Why does it always have to be about another way to push houses in people’s faces? I love Pinterest. I have tried some great recipes and decorating projects I found there. There are wonderful gardening ideas and gift ideas. Geez – just relax and enjoy it and stop trying to make it all about real estate people!
Yes, if you are real estate agent or homes seller and buyer so you need a platform where you can easily deal with people. Nowadays, Pinterest is fast growing platform where you can easily list your real estate business for better results. Keep sharing such more.
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I’ve been wondering what that site was about. A friend recently told me about Pinterest and said I should join, but I really couldn’t understand what the benefits would be? I’m glad I came across your article because it really doesn’t sound like a great idea after all!
WordPress is also extremely SEO friendly, so this can be of benefit when trying to optimize your website for local real estate marketing terms.
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WordPress is also extremely SEO friendly, so this can be of benefit when trying to optimize your website for local real estate marketing terms. As you can see, there are many benefits to using this platform, but only you can decide whether or not it is best for your business.
Thanks for this interesting information…
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Thanks Jay. Very interesting article.
For a while now, I have been writing and talking about real estate investing and I will continue doing that for as long as I can. There are so many opportunities for people to do well financially and become abundant givers through investing in real estate.
I see Pinterest being touted as the greatest marketing tool since Twitter.
Excuse me if I’m one of the few who still doesn’t even recognize the value of Twitter in real estate marketing!
Pinterest is working for the blog we’re using to sell the Mount Eliza unit. See http://www.mountelizaunit.com.au/pinterest-and-this-blog/
Here’s exactly how this whole real estate marketing works. The reason why I like you to start your own ideas more regularly is that you probably will acquire more prospects viewing your post.