Pin deleted because of a copyright complaint

[LyricalSixties]

I just had an email from Pinterest to say they had received a copyright complaint and removed one of my pins. I have no problem with this, if someone doesn't want me to promote their work, then that is their right.

However, what puzzles me is that the pin (Pinterest provided a link to it) was taken directly from a Zazzle product page and, therefore, linked back to that product. It was the store owner who asked Pinterest to remove the pin.

But why would any store owner NOT want their products promoted on Pinterest? And, as far as I'm aware, we can't stop our products being promoted to Pinterest anyway.

[idraw]

@LyricalSixties 
Hi LS, how about this…since you have the link and the name of the store owner, you could compose a very polite and non threatening message asking why they would not want to be promoted on Pinterest, exposing that you are an affiliate and promoting their product, and saying that you are just trying to understand and are fine with their decision. That is, if they have messages enabled. But, keep reading before you go further.
Maybe they are super protective of their images, they are promoting their own pins there and so  possibly not enamored of the affiliate fee, that is, if they are aware of and understanding the affiliate part of the situation. The only way to really know their reasoning is to risk reaching out to them, but since they have already filed a copyright complaint, they may take offense at your questions. Myself, I would let it rest.

[CrazyMermaid]

I would contact Zazzle. You have an affiliate agreement with them (not the Zazzler) and I believe Zazzler's agree to it when they sign up for the program. They may want to explain this to the Zazzler. 

When I was a full-time affiliate, I had an amazing number of Zazzlers complain to me about my websites that were promoting them. They seemed to think that I was stealing their work. Now this was a long time ago and people did not understand what affiliate websites were. This could be the case here though. I actually stopped promoting Zazzle products because it became a headache. 

[Windy]

I am surprised that Pinterest told you the identity of the complainant. Was it really the store owner who made the complaint? I can see a scenario where a store owner violates copyright, someone else posts the product on PInterest and then the copyright owner of the pirated work makes the complaint.

[LyricalSixties]

Windy, I was surprised too.  Pinterest gave me the full name of the complainant, and it matched to the public name on the Zazzle Store

[Windy]

I had a similar situation on Flickr at one point. In those late nights when my brain was not useful for much else, I would sometimes tag Flickr photos to make it easier for viewers to find them. One user had enabled her photos for tagging, but then told me I should not be tagging her stuff. The only way I could figure out how to make sure I never did this again with her photos was to block her. 

[PenguinPower]

That's a bit bizarre.. I suppose the person must have misunderstood what was happening, as I know of few people who object to being promoted.
I do believe it's also not a violation of copyright... part of the agreement you sign with Z covers the use of images in that manner... and I don't think it matters who pins it, but unless the person begins making your life difficult and getting you into troubles with Pinterest, it seems like it could just be way more trouble than it's worth to attempt to try to convince them they aren't being wronged.

[Barbara]

Was the store owner a well-established one, at least at the Bronze level? I'm asking this because they may be just new enough to not understand either affiliation or the great benefits of having others promote your work. Regardless, it sure wasn't a copyright violation. This person is going to go a wee bit nuts when people start repinning his/her products.

Colorwash's Home

[LyricalSixties]

Yes, it's a Pro store, and the pin was pinned about 4 years ago.  I'm wondering if the whole thing is some sort of misunderstanding between the store and Pinterest.  However, as it's only affected one of my pins I'm not going to pursue it.

[SimplyDesigned]

Was it a custom pin you made? I'm willing to go out on a limb if it was, that the design owner might have thought you were claiming the design was yours instead of being purely for promotional purposes. Probably pure misinformation or lack of knowledge, I hope. Cause it is kind of odd.

[LyricalSixties]

No, it wasn't a custom pin.  Just a standard Zazzle pin.  That's why I'm puzzled.

[CreativeLeahG]

A standard zazzle pin? Zazzle don't have pins on Zazzle? Is it possible you copied someones custom pin image for the promotion of their affiliated items? In which case yes this is a violation. You cannot take other affiliates or other sellers custom created 'pins' for use without their express permission. 

I create pins for my affiliates to use and give them permission to do so, but if I created pins to promote other sellers (as an affiliate myself) and another affiliate decided to be lazy and copy my custom created pins, yes it would be an issue. So if you inadvertently used another affiliates custom pin to generate your own affiliate referrals, yes that's a violation.

[Barbara]

It still seems odd for a person to reject someone using what was put publicly on Zazzle for the express purpose of selling.

Perhaps Zazzle could explain the ins and outs of those cover images.

Colorwash's Home

[CreativeLeahG]

Not odd at all, I think you may have misunderstood my explanation 

NOTE: a PIN is not a Zazzle product cover image it is an image created for the express purpose of being used on Pinterest (dimensions incompatible with Zazzle covers). See my Pin here as an example  .

This pin promotes my products  so YES affiliates are welcome to use my own pins for my own products and I give them permission to do so on Pinterest and via my sites. BUT they may not use my pins that I created for other sellers products. Because I will not get the referral NOR the royalty from the use of my custom pin.

It is possible (though not confirmed) that this might be the issue. Though OP did also say the person reporting was also the store owner that the pin directed to, so in this scenario it is unlikely. 

[Barbara]

Leah, you're right. I definitely misunderstood what you said.

But it still doesn't make sense to participate in Pinterest and then get upset about either affiliation or re-pinning. That's what Pinterest is all about.

Colorwash's Home

[CreativeLeahG]

It's not repinning if the person sharing the pins add their own affiliate link. But its all mute now as OP clarified this was a zazzle product pinned direct from zazzle as oppose to a custom created pin. 

[LyricalSixties]

When I said a standard Zazzle pin, I meant one pinned from the product page in Zazzle.com via the option Zazzle gives us to pin.  I didn't copy anyone's custom created pin, I never do.

[CreativeLeahG]

This is what I thought you meant, but calling it a pin threw up the possibility it was a custom created pin (not pinned from zazzle). As you say a one off, but I hope the seller doesn't go on a rampage having stuff that is legitimate removed, never know how it might affect ones rankings, views on Pinterest. Might be worth challenging with Pinterest just in case.

[Harmony]

#ad when pinning any item that is for sales purposes is also helpful. I agree with other posters that our agreement includes rights for affiliate promotion. 

Hopefully the OP sent a reply to pinterest advising them of this as well

[alissag]

My best guess is that the store owner has recently experienced people stealing their artwork and trying to resell it on other print on demand sites. It has happened to many recently, and when they came across your pin mistakenly thought that this was the case not realizing you were promoting their own store.

[LyricalSixties]

Thanks for your interesting comments everyone.  I'm not going to pursue this, as only one pin was deleted, it's not worth the time.  It just seemed so odd!

[CreativeLeahG · Accepted solution]

Zazzle has the rights to the product cover images and allows affiliates to use them to promote their products, so a seller cannot rightfully demand their removal from any site where they are being properly used for affiliate purposes, so yes as others have said I would contact the seller to clear up the misunderstanding.

EDIT:

I now see you mentioned the image you posted was a 'PIN' that you copied, not a cover photo from Zazzle. If you used another affiliates custom created PIN to generate your own affiliate referrals then yes that would be image theft and a violation. The creator of a custom pin is the owner of that image not the seller, not Zazzle. If that makes sense. Hope this helps.

[LyricalSixties]

Thanks, but it was a cover photo from Zazzle that I pinned.  I didn't copy anyone else's custom created pin. 

[Barbara]

I did a search concerning copyright on Pinterest, and it doesn't include what happened here. Had LyricalSixties pulled the image from the person's web site and had it been that person's own artwork, there might have been a problem, but pulling it from Zazzle and then using it to affiliate is not considered a violation. Affiliation is a major chunk of the activity there. I bet the designer is mistaken about Pinterest, and as for Pinterest's behavior, it was likely the easiest way for them to react rather than taking the time to investigate. Also, one or two such cases is very unlikely to affect a pinner's standing on the platform.

So, @LyricalSixties , it seems you needn't be concerned about it.

I wonder how many other Pinterest subscribers have been complained about by the designer. If it ends up being a lot, Pinterest may yet look into it further.

Colorwash's Home

[CreativeLeahG]

I know Barabara, we are on the same page, just something got lost in translation.

[Marblewave]

Say I create an affiliate link using the "share" button on a Zazzle product range, is that always OK, even if the seller made their own cover image for that Zazzle page?