Pointed Complaints

What is the impact of Pinterest on copyright laws?

- Leanne Van Breda and Janet Mackenzie

The traditional realm of copyright is being tested in a world where ‘liking’, ‘retweeting’ and ‘pinning’ have become part of everyday life. Pinterest has made it easy for users to collect images and inspiration for everything from home décor to planning weddings.

Pinterest has also created a ‘Pin It’ button for installation onto the Google Chrome browser so that a user can ‘pin’ an interesting online article to his or her Pinterest board without opening the Pinterest homepage. While the perks are wonderful for the majority of Pinterest users, many artists are suffering as a result.