Copyright protection

[J.Edward]

I think that is the confusion here - people are not 'uploading' images to Pinterest, in the main.
They are using a link button. Pinterest may create a cached version of an image, but the users of pinterest are not actually saving a copy of say my map, then uploading a copy to pinterest.
That's just not how it works.

There could be a few random people who do that... but the bulk of any CG things that show on Pinterest are actually linked back to the Guild.
Not in the most ideal fashion, no. But they are linked back.

[Redrobes]

If they linked to the thread or album where they got it that would be ok but if it just linked to the image and display that image hot linked into their own frame with their own adverts generating revenue for their site using our servers bandwidth to do it and our members work without their permission then that is less savory. I would block that if I could or at least set it up so it could hot link a low res version but not the high capacity leeching version. It would have to be up to Robbie to say whether it would happen tho. I would not do it without some consultation about it all. But I think people (clarify - non members) should be able to see the images on this site.

Edit: Best example I can think of is taking a popular magazine like Time or something and putting a new cover on it and putting back on the news stands. You buy it and pay the owners of the cover not Time.

I guess I can say to people if it bothers them then there is a settings link top right and in there are your privacy controls for your albums and member site area. I dont think that applies to posts and threads in the main forum tho.

[Straf]

So Pinterest are hotlinking to images on others' servers and generating income through advertising revenue without compensating the people who pay for those servers? Cool, I'm going to set up a business where I just take someone's car without their permission and use it as a taxi. Or maybe I'll open a fast food outlet where I just use someone's kitchen, ingredients, etc. to cook food and then sell it.

[Mouse]

LOL! The really clever bit is that Pinterest can disassociate themselves with the 'dastardly' act if necessary by blaming the individual that pinned the image for the breach of copyright, so to amend your analogy you would have to persuade someone else to steal the car and use it as a taxi, but then to give you all the money.

[waldronate]

To take a somewhat unpopular position here: it's not Pinterest that's doing the linking. It's Pinterest users. The whole point of Pinterest is for users to post "look at this awesome stuff that I found" links and Pinterest provides them a place to do that. Saying that "Pinterest posts content" is very much like saying "Cartographer's Guild posts maps." It's the users that post things and the site (Pinterest, Cartographer's Guild, and so on) provides them a place to do it. To point out an even more unpopular idea, both sites that I mention above host ads to generate revenue and the revenue level is based on the traffic level, which is largely based on the quality of the hosted content.

The issue seems to be that folks are advertising the works in question and not necessarily providing appropriate attribution. People seem most annoyed at the sites that are enabling this behavior (and generating incidental revenue as part of this enabling) rather than at the users that are doing it.

[Mouse]

I just copied the link from Bloodrock as it sits on Pinterest, and I got this:

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/358317714087910167/

This link just takes you to that page. if you copy the link from the Bloodrock image by right clicking and copying it, then paste it into the browser bar again, you get exactly the same image and page again.

I might be a little slow with these things, but doesn't that mean the picture has been loaded as a picture by someone onto that page - that it sits entirely on the Pinterest server, and has in effect been stolen?

[Mouse]

To take a somewhat unpopular position here: it's not Pinterest that's doing the linking. It's Pinterest users. The whole point of Pinterest is for users to post "look at this awesome stuff that I found" links and Pinterest provides them a place to do that. Saying that "Pinterest posts content" is very much like saying "Cartographer's Guild posts maps." It's the users that post things and the site (Pinterest, Cartographer's Guild, and so on) provides them a place to do it. To point out an even more unpopular idea, both sites that I mention above host ads to generate revenue and the revenue level is based on the traffic level, which is largely based on the quality of the hosted content.

The issue seems to be that folks are advertising the works in question and not necessarily providing appropriate attribution. People seem most annoyed at the sites that are enabling this behavior (and generating incidental revenue as part of this enabling) rather than at the users that are doing it.

I understand that the Guild is making revenue from having my maps posted here, but the difference is that I decide to post them here, whereas I haven't once been asked by any pinner whether I really want my maps to be pinned. At best its just plain rude. At worst its stealing - I believe the instance of Bloodrock I just gave the link to above is evidence of this, since the only page that thumbnail links to if you copy the link from it, is that very page again.

Please tell me I'm wrong. I really don't want to have to create a Pinterest account just to sort this one particular pinner out

[ChickPea]

I have to agree with Waldronate. It's not the image hosting sites themselves that are the issue. It's the lack of attribution from some users, and the occasional outright con artist who tries to pass others' work off as their own. Most people just want to share a pretty pic they found and see nothing wrong with that, if they're not profiting from it. Who hasn't shared a photo or a meme or a funny pic of some sort? Are we all carefully tracking down the original creator of the pic and requesting their permission before we violate their copyright? Doubtful. Everyone infringes to some extent.

I don't have an account at Pinterest, but the thumbnail they show at Mouse's link seems to be a cached version on their servers. I'm not sure if you see a larger image if you're logged in, and if so, where that image is coming from. I don't think they're hotlinking directly from the Guild, but presumably the server logs would show something if they were.

[Straf]

To take a somewhat unpopular position here: it's not Pinterest that's doing the linking. It's Pinterest users. The whole point of Pinterest is for users to post "look at this awesome stuff that I found" links and Pinterest provides them a place to do that. Saying that "Pinterest posts content" is very much like saying "Cartographer's Guild posts maps." It's the users that post things and the site (Pinterest, Cartographer's Guild, and so on) provides them a place to do it. To point out an even more unpopular idea, both sites that I mention above host ads to generate revenue and the revenue level is based on the traffic level, which is largely based on the quality of the hosted content.

The issue seems to be that folks are advertising the works in question and not necessarily providing appropriate attribution. People seem most annoyed at the sites that are enabling this behavior (and generating incidental revenue as part of this enabling) rather than at the users that are doing it.

The copyright owners voluntarily upload their works to the Cartographer's Guild though, and they agree to abide by the rules here on signup which presumably (although I don't know for certain) includes acceptance that the site is part funded through advertising.

Anyway apparently Pinterest have a HTML meta tag that allows websites to stop Pinterest pinning their images. https://help.pinterest.com/en/articl...rest-your-site

[J.Edward]

Mouse - here's the page that url goes to...
(2)_View_Photo_Fantasy_Maps_Pinterest_-_2017-01-21_20.59.30.png

and here's the link that the image goes to when you click on it....
https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...chmentid=89659

Perhaps it is showing improperly for you because you don't have an account with pinterest. idk
It does link back to CG... to Mouse's album, in fact.