Posting images to the popular social media website Pinterest could put users in legal hot water over copyright infringement, a legal expert on technology issues says.
The site offers pages where users can post images, essentially creating a giant corkboard of things they find interesting.
But because many users go beyond posting their own images and display pictures from various sources on the Internet, they potentially open themselves up to legal action, David Canton told CTVNews.ca Friday.
Canton, a London, Ont.-based business lawyer and trademark agent who focuses on technology issues and companies, said users need to be cautious when posting images.
If someone takes an image, particularly from a site where the user is supposed to pay, there's nothing to stop the owner from coming back to that person and accusing them of breaching copyright, he said.
Fair use of copyrighted material doesn't exist in Canada, meaning a user could subject to damages for displaying an image owned by someone else, Canton said.
Canton believes Pinterest could have been set up differently to address copyright concerns, similar to the video posting site YouTube.
"They have a way that copyright holders can either take their material down or get compensated for it being there, so they've addressed that to some extent," he said.
It also doesn't matter if a user is posting material with no intention of making money, Canton said. While that might mitigate damages, it doesn't exonerate the user from a copyright violation, he said.
Pinterest's copyright policy states it respects intellectual property rights and expects users to do the same, stating it may disable or terminate accounts of those who "repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the copyrights" of others.
Canton said he wouldn't be surprised if there are people already trolling through the site and wondering what to do about their copyrights, since Pinterest is just beginning to grow in popularity.
The site's copyright policy also encourages people who believe their rights have been infringed upon to report it so can take appropriate action that includes removal of the "challenged material from the site."
Avoiding a problem may be as simple as posting the image with a photo credit or a link to the website where it originated, Canton said.
"As a user, you just never know," he said.
Users of sites such as Pinterest should be aware of copyright laws for their own protection, he said.
