Despite changes over the weekend to its usage policies, Pinterest may still not be in compliance with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, according to copyright attorney and blogger Connie Mableson.
Pinterest said Amazon will be handling DMCA notices since Pinterest is hosted by the giant retailer. But Pinterest has still not updated its designated agent with the copyright office, as required under the DMCA, Mableson said, and that could cause problems if it tries to claim protections under the law.
“So, even though Amazon may be handling the DMCA notices, it still remains to be seen whether or not Pinterest qualifies for the DMCA safe harbor immunity,” she wrote.
We’ve asked Pinterest and Amazon for comment and will update as soon as we hear back from either firm.
The change came about after the artist lobbying group, the Artists’ Bill of Rights, asked Amazon to take over DMCA issues from Pinterest. But it appears as if all Amazon is doing for now is collecting complaints through an online form and forwarding them to Pinterest, which then makes the decision to take down content that violates copyright laws.
The group had originally been told by Amazon that it should contact Pinterest directly but pushed Amazon to take some control of the issue.
“This issue of infringement by Pinterest members is becoming ever more important due to other services being launched to profit from the infringed material on Pinterest,” the group said.
For its part, Amazon responded to the group by saying, “We do monitor our customers with respect to DMCA compliance and will take whatever action we feel is appropriate if we believe a customer is not in compliance with the DMCA,” according to the Daily Dot.
