21 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
21 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

How Can Google And Pinterest Get Away With This?

by Long Beach Nathan
18 replies
I enjoy using Pinterest and Google Images, but how can they have copyrighted images displayed on their sites? Think about it-they never got permission from the rights holders to use their images. Yet if I post an image I like on a website I control, I'm risking getting sued over it.

Some might argue that they're able to do it because they're linking to the original site, but I don't see that making a difference. So how are they legally able to host pictures that appear on other people's sites without their permission?
#google #pinterest
  • Profile picture of the author Chaudhary Daniyal
    Google is a Search Engine ! If Google won't pull up the images, where do people go when they need them? The 'Paid' images on certain sites which require either buying or membership payments, those images are, by default not indexed in Google.

    I don't think there is anyone who wouldn't want their pictures used to get exposure. Images from Image directories such as Tumblr require you to add the link to the photographer when using their images. It's not always obvious but more often than not, you can see the credits at the end of the posts.. pretty much in a non-view able place.

    This kind of stuff is no surprise on the Internet though. There are far smaller sites performing this act.. there's nothing much a person can do.

    Just my 2 cents.
    Signature

    Sig in the making ...

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9301470].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Josh Mayers
    Hey Nathan

    I think this is because of the fact that Google is still a search engine. Plus, im sure most businesses would want their logo to be found in Google so that they can increase exposure and a stronger brand.

    Hope this is of some help!

    -Josh
    Signature
    Learn How This Simple System Can Generate UNLIMITED $25, $100 and $300 Payments Directly Into Your CashApp Account Using Nothing But Your Cellphone. . .
    ~ www.CashAppFreedom.com ~
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9302014].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I love questions like this.

    I'm an overly-analytical IT nerd... So I always find legal terms and license rights for images to be ridiculously ambiguous.



    Funny Note: I post on a lot of "Legal" forums because I love to ask legal questions over the Internet.

    One thing I've found, is that different people have such RIDICULOUSLY varying interpretations of the law. Two different legal experts might have totally opposing viewpoints, and both have feasible merit.

    (I've seen those legal dudes argue with eachother over simple interpretations. Pretty fascinating. And food for thought; that legalities are often an interpretation of ambiguity, and contrary to popular belief rarely "black and white").
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9302247].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author goindeep
      Originally Posted by Sarevok View Post

      I love questions like this.

      I'm an overly-analytical IT nerd... So I always find legal terms and license rights for images to be ridiculously ambiguous.



      Funny Note: I post on a lot of "Legal" forums because I love to ask legal questions over the Internet.

      One thing I've found, is that different people have such RIDICULOUSLY varying interpretations of the law. Two different legal experts might have totally opposing viewpoints, and both have feasible merit.

      (I've seen those legal dudes argue with eachother over simple interpretations. Pretty fascinating. And food for thought; that legalities are often an interpretation of ambiguity, and contrary to popular belief rarely "black and white").

      I agree and hence why we go to court in the first place. If we all agreed there would never be a fight.

      Interesting this comes up because I was just wondering about images and posted this http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...es-online.html
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309661].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Long Beach Nathan
    Thanks for the responses so far. But it seems like if this is the case, perhaps anyone can pass themselves off as a search engine within a specific niche, and they may be able to avoid the legal ramifications of copyright infringement (though it would be unwise to try it).

    It does annoy me though that these sites can get away with it. Especially Pinterest. Just think of how much money they make from pics posted on their site. Plus, they don't even have to post anything themselves because people do it for them. I know they did the work of building the community and everything, but it still baffles me that they can legally do it.
    Signature
    Need Music For Your Videos, Podcasts, Sites, etc? Get It Now On My YouTube Channel!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309010].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Here's a tip: Don't do what they're doing unless you like wasting money on lawyers
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309022].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author IDoTheLegWork
    I am wondering how they are getting away with their new
    images strategy. They no longer just show thumbnails,
    rather they now display a much larger version right there
    in the search results when the thumbnail is clicked, and
    require a second click to go to the original site.

    I will certainly take issue with this on my sites where my
    own photographs enhance the content.
    Signature

    ..and you WILL contribute a verse.
    Indifference is the enemy that must be conquered.
    Appeal to the crowd by addressing the person.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309040].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Michael Taylor
      Originally Posted by IDoTheLegWork View Post

      I will certainly take issue with this on my sites where my own photographs enhance the content.
      So, you don't want the traffic from image searches?

      Does that also mean that if Google indexes your text content on one of your pages, you'll take issue with them for that?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309621].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Michael Taylor View Post

        So, you don't want the traffic from image searches?
        Truth be told, no I don't. In my experience, that "traffic" has been absolutely worthless, or worse. There may be a few outliers, but it's all been either people hunting for free images to steal, I mean "use", on their own sites or leeches hotlinking directly to the image so I can pay for the bandwidth.

        Originally Posted by Michael Taylor View Post

        Does that also mean that if Google indexes your text content on one of your pages, you'll take issue with them for that?
        There's a difference. People who follow links from the text search pages often read at least that page.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9310572].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          Originally Posted by Michael Taylor View Post

          So, you don't want the traffic from image searches?
          Nope.

          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          Truth be told, no I don't. In my experience, that "traffic" has been absolutely worthless, or worse. There may be a few outliers, but it's all been either people hunting for free images to steal, I mean "use", on their own sites or leeches hotlinking directly to the image so I can pay for the bandwidth.
          Same here. I had a site with an image that was getting somewhere around 30k hits or more per month. I tried to monetize the traffic with various related things (and even unrelated when I resorted to the spaghetti on the wall approach). Nothing. Nada.

          It seems most people using image searches are looking for images to steal for use on their own sites, probably because they heard advice on a marketing forum to "just use Google images!" to find pictures to use on their sites.
          Signature

          Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

          Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9310588].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author IDoTheLegWork
        Originally Posted by Michael Taylor View Post

        So, you don't want the traffic from image searches?

        Does that also mean that if Google indexes your text content on one of your pages, you'll take issue with them for that?
        I don't mind the thumbnail, but if a person gets to see
        the full size image right on Google why would they
        continue onto my site?

        If Google presented the whole of my text to a searcher
        yes I will take issue with that. It's copyright infringement.

        And indexing is different than presentation.
        Signature

        ..and you WILL contribute a verse.
        Indifference is the enemy that must be conquered.
        Appeal to the crowd by addressing the person.

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9310734].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author goindeep
      Originally Posted by IDoTheLegWork View Post

      I am wondering how they are getting away with their new
      images strategy. They no longer just show thumbnails,
      rather they now display a much larger version right there
      in the search results when the thumbnail is clicked, and
      require a second click to go to the original site.

      I will certainly take issue with this on my sites where my
      own photographs enhance the content.
      Lol, good luck with that.
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9309665].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
    Originally Posted by Long Beach Nathan View Post

    I enjoy using Pinterest and Google Images, but how can they have copyrighted images displayed on their sites? Think about it-they never got permission from the rights holders to use their images. Yet if I post an image I like on a website I control, I'm risking getting sued over it.

    Some might argue that they're able to do it because they're linking to the original site, but I don't see that making a difference. So how are they legally able to host pictures that appear on other people's sites without their permission?
    Not everyone allows sites like Google or Pinterest to scrape and list their content/images. But the majority of the people are happy with that because these two sites usually send a lot of traffic to the websites in question. When an individual like you uses an image without getting permission, it is another story. Actually it is about perception. Even if you sent more traffic to that website by linking back than Google or Pinterest, people would not be happy about your using of their images. Besides, nobody would try to go after such big companies like they would do for individual webmasters who use their content.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9311076].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    For awhile I had a guitar image on one of my sites that got crazy "image" traffic. Also on the page was a 728 x 90 flash banner advertising an affiliate site.

    I started back tracking sales and found this banner was showing over my site in "images."

    Over two years or so it made about 30 $25 sales, so...
    Signature
    Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
    All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9311622].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ghoster
    They aren't displaying the content per-se, they're just showing you what is on a given domain. That's Google, idk about Pinterest. I imagine they have a disclaimer somewhere that says that users are responsible for the images they post. Which of course is BS, since Pinterest is hosting them.

    Google Images doesn't host anything.
    Signature

    On the whole, you get what you pay for.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9311665].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Carol_A
    I don't know about you, but I started a new site, the .net version of my name in order to rank for just images.

    It helps!
    Signature
    Carol Amato
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9311684].message }}

Trending Topics