Pinterest and copyright

I’ve been playing with Pinterest a bit lately, mainly as a way to “pin” recipes I come upon that I’d like to try. I always used to download them to my computer, but that creates a clutter that is hard to sort through. Instead, I’m only downloading recipes I’ve tried and like. In the meantime, I’m pinning likely possibilities. It’s an easy way to keep track of them, and some of my friends have found my “board” and started to share theirs, as well. All to the best, right? Except that in the last week there’s a been a lot of concern raised about possible copyright issues with the site.

The concerns raised are similar to those raised about a host of web 2.0 sites, and for the most part I don’t find them very compelling. The bad news is that some of my friends, who haven’t been as involved with thinking about copyright, are turning away from the site because of the fears raised. The good news is that some very thoughtful and well informed people have started to weigh in as well. Here’s a great summary of the issues, along with a basic introduction to copyright. Perhaps we can use this kerfluffle as a way to raise awareness!