Can You Use Pinterest Images? — Copyright, Licences, and Fair Use Explained (2026)

Pinterest looks like a free image library. It isn't one. Every image on it belongs to somebody, and the fact that it's been pinned 40,000 times doesn't change that. At the same time, the platform's whole design invites saving, sharing, and remixing, and plenty of uses are entirely fine.

This guide explains where the lines actually are: what Pinterest's terms say, what copyright law says, and what that means for the common things people want to do with pins. It isn't legal advice. If you're making a commercial decision that depends on this, ask a lawyer in your jurisdiction. But it should make the terms of service and the word "fair use" a lot less mysterious.

Who Owns a Pinterest Image?

The person who created it. Pinning an image doesn't transfer ownership to the pinner, and hosting it doesn't transfer ownership to Pinterest. Pinterest's terms of service say this directly: you keep the rights to what you post, and you grant Pinterest a licence to display and distribute it on the platform.

That licence is what makes the whole site work. When you save someone's pin, Pinterest is exercising its licence to show it on your board. But the licence is to Pinterest, not to you. Nothing in the terms grants other users the right to take an image off Pinterest and use it elsewhere.

This is also why "I found it on Pinterest" is not a source. The pinner might be the creator, or might be the tenth person to repin it from a blog that took it from a photographer. Our guide to finding the original source of a Pinterest image is the first step in any responsible use.

What You Can Do Without Asking Anyone

These uses are generally fine, either because they're within Pinterest's own features, because they're personal and non-commercial, or because they're widely recognised exceptions:

Save, pin, and organise on Pinterest. That's what the platform is for.
Download for personal reference. Keeping a folder of kitchen ideas, outfit inspiration, or recipes for your own use is the ordinary case and no one is going to pursue it. Downloading through PinLoad for this purpose is like saving a web page.
Use as a reference for your own original work. Painting a room in a colour you saw, cooking a dish from a photo, or being inspired by a composition is not copying.
Share the link. Sending a friend the pin URL is sharing Pinterest's page, not redistributing the image.
Show it in a private setting. A mood board on your wall or in a client meeting is fine.

What Needs Permission or a Licence

Publishing it on your own website, social account, or product. Reposting a pin's image on Instagram, using it as a blog header, or printing it on a T-shirt all reproduce the work publicly. That's the copyright owner's exclusive right.
Commercial use of any kind. Ads, packaging, presentations to paying clients, and stock-style reuse.
Modifying and republishing. Cropping, filtering, or adding text doesn't create a new work you own. It creates a derivative of theirs.
Using the image in AI training or datasets. Increasingly a stated restriction in creators' terms and in Pinterest's own policies.

For any of these, either get written permission from the creator or find an image with a licence that covers the use (see the licensed sources section below).

What "Fair Use" Actually Means

Fair use is a defence under US copyright law, and similar but narrower concepts ("fair dealing") exist in the UK, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. It is not a rule that says "small uses are fine" or "non-commercial is fine." The US Copyright Office describes four factors a court weighs:

Purpose and character of the use. Commentary, criticism, news reporting, teaching, and transformative uses lean toward fair. Decorative reuse leans against.
Nature of the work. Using a factual photo leans more toward fair than using a creative artwork.
Amount used. Using a whole image is worse than using a portion, though for images the whole thing is often necessary.
Effect on the market. If your use replaces a sale or licence the creator could have made, it's much less likely to be fair.

Practical translation for Pinterest images:

Writing an article that critiques a specific pin and shows it: plausibly fair use.
Using a pin as the hero image on your blog post because it looks nice: not fair use. This is the most common mistake and the most common takedown.
A teacher showing pins in a classroom: usually fine.
Reposting a pin to your business Instagram with "credit: Pinterest": not fair use, and the credit is meaningless because Pinterest isn't the author.

Fair use is decided case by case, after the fact, by a court. It's a defence you raise when sued, not a permission you have in advance. If you're relying on it, be sure you can articulate why your use is transformative.

"But I Gave Credit"

Credit doesn't substitute for permission. Attribution is good manners and some licences require it, but attributing a photo to its creator while using it without their consent is still infringement. The one thing credit does reliably is make it easier for the creator to find you, which cuts both ways.

That said, if you have permission or a licence, credit properly:

Name the creator, not the platform. "Photo: Jane Doe" not "via Pinterest."
Link to their site or profile.
Follow any format the licence specifies. Creative Commons licences, for example, want the title, author, source, and licence named.

Where to Find Images You Can Use

If you need an image for something public, start where the licence is clear:

Creative Commons search. Images with CC licences allow reuse under stated conditions. Creative Commons' licence guide explains what each one permits; watch for the NC (non-commercial) and ND (no derivatives) restrictions.
Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay. Free stock with permissive licences. Read Unsplash's licence and Pexels' licence; both allow commercial use with some limits, such as no reselling and no implying endorsement.
Paid stock. Adobe Stock, Getty, Shutterstock. Clear licences, indemnification on some plans.
Ask the creator. Many photographers and illustrators on Pinterest will license an image for a reasonable fee or, for small uses, in exchange for a credit and a link. Message them.

Many pins are actually from these sources in the first place. Tracing a pin back to Unsplash and downloading it there gives you a licensed copy and a larger file.

If Your Work Is on Pinterest Without Permission

Pinterest processes copyright complaints through a form at its copyright help page. You'll need the URLs of the infringing pins, proof you own the work, and a statement made under penalty of perjury. Pinterest also has a strikes system: accounts that repeatedly post infringing content are suspended.

Before filing, decide whether you actually want the pins removed. For many creators, Pinterest is a top traffic source, and a pin that links back to your site is doing you a favour. The problem case is pins that link somewhere else or have been re-uploaded with the source stripped. Our guide on violation notices describes what happens on the receiving end.

How This Applies to Downloading

A downloader is a tool, and the legality of using one depends on what you do with the file. Saving a public image or video for personal viewing is within the everyday-use category above. Downloading someone's work to re-upload it as your own, to strip a watermark, or to use it commercially is not, and the tool doesn't change that. Our safety guide and the without-watermark article both cover the difference between a watermark Pinterest adds and one the creator adds; the second one is part of their work.

Pinterest's copyright policy is the other document worth reading in full. It's short.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a Pinterest image on my blog if I link to the pin?

Linking to the pin doesn't grant you a licence. Either use a licensed image or embed the pin using Pinterest's official embed code, which displays it through Pinterest rather than copying it.

Are images on Pinterest public domain?

Almost never. Public domain means copyright has expired or been waived, which applies to very old works and specific releases. Most pins are recent photos and designs that are fully protected.

Can I sell prints of a Pinterest image?

Not without a licence from the creator. This is straightforward commercial infringement.

What about recipes and infographics?

Recipes as lists of ingredients aren't copyrightable, but the photo, the written instructions, and the infographic design are. Rewrite the steps in your own words and shoot your own photo.

Is it legal to download Pinterest videos?

Downloading for personal viewing is generally treated like saving any web content. Redistributing or monetising the video is where copyright applies. See the video download guide for the fuller answer.

Does Pinterest own the images I upload?

No. You keep ownership and grant Pinterest a licence to display them. You can delete them at any time, which ends the licence for that content.