Pinterest Changes to Terms – Will They Work?

• Our original Terms stated that by posting content to Pinterest you grant Pinterest the right to sell your content. Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms.
• We updated our Acceptable Use Policy and we will not allow pins that explicitly encourage self-harm or self-abuse.
• We released simpler tools for anyone to report alleged copyright or trademark infringements.
• Finally, we added language that will pave the way for new features such as a Pinterest API and Private Pinboards.

Two big changes are of note here, especially for businesses. First, it appears that Pinterest has given up the right to sell content posted by users. There were a lot of accusations early on regarding Pinterest’s future intent and what that could mean for businesses displaying work and making sales off of their pinned content. Whether or not Pinterest honestly had intended on doing this in the future, they are now changing the policy saying they will not. Businesses can rest a little easier.

The second big change is simpler tools to report copyright infringement. This one is a little trickier. Does this mean that Pinterest has experienced copyright infringement problems? Do they simply think that it may become a problem in the future? While this has highlighted the copyright issue for some, the reality is that copyright infringement is incredibly difficult to police. There are safeguards a website can take in order to avoid their content being pinned (such as the “nopin” tag), but that’s expecting a lot of websites who should have a reasonable expectation of privacy with their own content by default.

What makes the internet and social media successful is the interactive nature of it. Sharing helps to make things successful. So far, it’s worked for Pinterest. It will be interesting to see what happens with Pinterest in the future. Will copyright issues persist? Will Facebook integrate features in an effort to make Pinterest obsolete?  Will Pinterest continue to be unchallenged and wildly successful?

What do you think? Do you have major privacy concerns with Pinterest? Do you think it will continue to be successful?

About The Author

We specialize in b2b, supporting the clients who are the "The Brands Behind the Brands." These are the supply chain partners of brands, either in Tier 1 or Tier 2 positions, who drive value through the delivery of goods, services and technologies. We enjoy blogging about all things related to Branding, Marketing, Inbound, Tradeshows, etc... And we're always happy to talk about any ideas you may have that might Get You To Your NEXT!