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by xn 5219 days ago
If posting an image with a comment is fair use, then arguably the combination of the image and the comment constitute the Member Content for which the poster is claiming ownership.

If I publish a review of a work of art, including a reproduction of the work, in a magazine, my copyright would cover the entire article including the reproduction. I wouldn't be claiming copyright on the original work.
1 comments
ajross 5219 days ago
That's pretty much how I see it too. Yes, you own the review, which includes the right to the image for the fair use purposes of explaining the review only. There is no transitive right if you sell that review to use the image for any other purpose.

I too find this insane. If anything qualifies for fair use, surely pinterest does. "Hey look at this cool thing!" is about as close as I can imagine to the platonic ideal of discussing a copyrighted work.

No one freaked out over /r/pics, so what's the deal here? I hesitate to point out that pinterest differs mostly in the gender demographics of the user base, but... yeah.

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dangrossman 5219 days ago
> No one freaked out over /r/pics,

/r/pics is just a collection of links to images; it does not reproduce or redistribute the images.

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ajross 5219 days ago
Right, but that's the same sort of legalese excuse-making (or alternatively: just substitute imgur, which hosts most of that content).

It has nothing to do with whether or not /r/pics constitutes fair use, just if-it-isn't-fair-use-who-gets-sued? No one, at the time or now, seriously thought that there was a legal problem for anyone with reddit. So why pinterest? Again, part of me is really suspicious that it's because it's a chick site that doesn't cater to geeks.

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ajross 5219 days ago
Right, but that's the same sort of legalese excuse-making. It has nothing to do with whether or not /r/pics constitutes fair use, just if-it-isn't-fair-use-who-gets-sued? No one, at the time or now, seriously thought that there was a legal problem for anyone with reddit. So why pinterest? Again, part of me is really suspicious that it's because it's a chick site that doesn't cater to geeks.
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danboarder 5219 days ago
This. Pinterest is like saving/sharing a visual bookmark rather than just a text link. Even /r/pics creates image thumbs similar to Pinterest. People on Pinterest are 'pinning' stuff they found that they like, just like users do on Reddit, or here on Hacker News, for that matter. What's the difference? Bigger thumbnails?
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