Pinterest is a juggernaut. The site is now driving more traffic to websites than Twitter. Beyond its draw as a social pinboard where one can find inspiration for the perfect wedding 'do, the site has become a powerful platform for creative professionals to share their work. Problem is, images "pinned" to the site are seldom credited to their author, creating a huge copyright headache and raising the hackles of photographers, illustrators, and designers everywhere.
Pinterest doesn't want to, in the words of another giant, "be evil," so they've taken the first step in solving the problem by creating a new feature, designed in conjunction with creative leads at Behance, Flickr, YouTube and Vimeo.
Starting May 1, pins have a field to provide attribution to the original source of the image. For instance, a pin can be linked to a Flickr account, and no matter how many times that photo is repinned, the creator will receive credit.
This isn't just a matter of exposure and links, after all. Lack of proper attribution can have a serious monetary impact: robbing creatives of job offers, Etsy sales, press inquiries, and other compensation.
"The greatest design work, illustration, photography -- and any other creation -- has the tendency to be shared on other websites, often times without a link back or even a proper credit," says Scott Belsky, cofounder of Behance, a community of creative professionals. "As a result, creative careers often fail to benefit from the exposure that their work receives."
It's a small UI fix -- adding only a few pixels to Pinterest's interface -- but one that shows the company is serious about creating value for its legions of users and its investors (Belsky is one).
"The future of creative careers is about much more than sites to upload images," Belsky says. "We need an ecosystem where you can publish in one place, showcase everywhere you want, and get discovered anywhere your work is displayed."
