Just wondering if your cakes have shown up on this new Pinterest site and if so, how you feel about it? Two of my cakes have shown up there... at first I was flattered and excited, but now I'm not sure how I feel. One of the pictures was linked back here to Cake Central (so people could see who made the cake) but the other picture wasn't. I did some reading about Pinterest and copywrite.. it makes me a little nervous. What do you all think?

I'd say as long as the picture goes back to your blog/tumblr/facebook/cakecentral, etc., account, and the person isn't claiming the work as their own then it would be fine. I personally find it harmless and a form of advertisement for ME as long as Pinterest isn't making money off the image. So far they don't run ads so I'm not sure what money they'd be making from any of the images.

I've only recently gotten into Pinterest and I noticed in their "how-to" when you set up an account that they instruct users to pin to the original source so that credit can be given to the original creator and not someone else.

i would say the answer is to watermark your cakes. put your logo somewhere it cant be cropped out without cropping out cake as well? this way, no one can ever claim your cake and people will always know who made it!

My pictures are watermarked so whoever looks at them knows it's my work. Otherwise, I'd be concerned.

I'd actually like to take all my pictures and watermark them, but I can't remove them now from Cake Central to do that. Oh well, for now, I think I'm okay with it.. I'm still really flattered.

I almost starting "pinning" as well until I noticed on someone's blog a copywrite notice (not to take pictures without permission). It made me uncomfortable with doing it. Just because I'm okay with it doesn't mean that others are... so I removed all my pins.

I can totally see both sides.

I had just finished reading (literally 5 mins ago) an article by Business Insider that was talking about this same topic. There seems to be conflicting thoughts. The way Pinterest is set up with the user agreement, the user (you and me) takes full responsibility for the photos that are pinned. Here is a quote from the article:

"As Pinterest continues to try to figure out ways to argue that its photo-stealing pinning service is legal, lawyers keep freaking out about it.

Two weeks ago, a lawyer read Pinterest's Terms of Service, realized that she could be held responsible for copyright theft, and then deleted all of her photo boards out of fear of getting sued.

And then, today, a lawyer told Steve Eder of the Wall Street Journal that Pinterest users should never pin any photos that they don't own"

I've been on the website before but I didn't love it enough to join. How did you find your pictures on there? I doubt that any of mine would make the cut but how could I find out?

yes, unfortunately I do and they do not link to my site or Cakecentral. They were ripped off, posted on some blog, then reposted on another blog, etc. and then pinned to Pinterest. I do not like it, do not appreciate it, and am not flattered. When I come across them, I'll comment with the original link to my work. I'm considering changing my watermark to my actual website address.

I have pined some of the wonderful work from cc onto Pinterest, but I pin from the original source so hopefully all of you talented bakers get full credit and recognition. My board of cakes serves as an inspiration and a source of amazement for me. I have seen the blogs that do nothing but repost pins and I do not pin from them. I want all of my pins to give their original sources the credit that they deserve.

Im new here to cake central and have only been doing cake decorating about a year. I came across this post and couldnt pass the opportunity to share my thoughts. I do use Pinterst often and recenty was featured in my local newspaper for being "addicted" to the wonderful ideas and inspirational things on the site. I totally enjoy finding other peoples crafts and talents and sharing with others. When I first joined the Pinterest ban wagon it never crossed my mind that Pinning was stealing. I was so thrilled to be learning so much and sharing my finds. I never pin and claim it as my own and always try to check that the links are accurate. I have pinned a few photos of cakes from this site thinking how beautiful they were, never once thinking it would offend someone, I think there are much more people like me who enjoy the site than those who abuse it. Sorry if I offended anyone.....I just stand amazed the talent here.

Pinterest is a touchy ground with photography/copyright etc.

Food for thought:

http://www.managingcommunities.com/2012/02/27/pinterest-copyright-and-your-community/

But perhaps Cake Central can put this code in their site to assist

<meta name=pinterest content=nopin />

I've pinned a cake or two, but I always link back to the site I pinned it from.