Pinterest releases optional code to prevent unwanted image sharing

Social photo blogging network Pinterest has come under heat recently for copyright issues, as users are able to easily share images with no attribution — and in response the network has implemented a small fix that will allow creators to keep their work from being pinned. Site owners now have the option to insert a short snippet of code into their site, which will prevent Pinterest users from sharing any images. Once the code is in place, users — or ‘pinners,” as they’re called — will be greeted with the notification “This site doesn’t allow pinning to Pinterest. Please contact the owner with any questions. Thanks for visiting!” if they attempt to share an image on the network. Of course, this doesn’t prevent users from downloading images and then uploading them to Pinterest, and with the increased popularity of the network — in January it had 11.7 million unique visitors despite being in an invite-only beta — many sites will likely be wary of turning away potential traffic.