How to Credit a Pinterest Creator When You Share Their Work

Most people who share a saved pin want to do right by the person who made it. The trouble is that Pinterest makes the original creator surprisingly hard to find, and once you do find them, it is not obvious what a proper credit looks like or whether credit alone is enough. This guide covers all of that: how to trace a pin back to its source, what to write, when a link back does the job, what Creative Commons changes, and how to ask for permission when credit is not sufficient on its own.

Credit is the baseline, not the licence

Before the practical steps, one point that has to come first. Writing "credit to the creator" under a video does not give you the right to post it. Attribution and permission are two separate things. The creator's copyright does not go away because you named them, and a use that would not be allowed without credit is still not allowed with it.

That does not make credit pointless. It is the baseline courtesy that every other conversation rests on. It sends people to the original, it makes it possible for the creator to find you, and it turns a permission request from a cold email into a polite follow-up. The rules on what you may do with a saved file are in is it legal to download Pinterest videos; the question of when a public use is acceptable without permission is in fair use and saved pins. This article assumes you have read those, or at least their conclusions, and want to do the crediting part well.

Step one: find the real creator

Pinterest is a re-pinning platform. The account you saved a video from is often not the account that made it, and a credit to the wrong person is worse than useless, because it sends attention to a re-poster and hides the original.

Work through these in order.

Open the pin, not the board. The pin page shows who saved it and, in many cases, where it came from.
Check the source link. Many pins carry a link to an outside website. If the video was uploaded from a blog or portfolio, that site is your best lead, and it usually names the person behind it.
Look for a watermark or handle inside the video. Creators on other platforms often add their name to the frame. Pinterest does not burn watermarks into files, so any name you see was put there by the maker.
Read the pin description. Re-pinners sometimes credit the original in the caption. Follow that trail.
Compare upload dates. If the same video appears on several accounts, the earliest one is the strongest candidate. It is not proof, but it is evidence.
Check the profile. A creator's profile tends to be full of work in one consistent style and often links to a shop, a site or another platform. A re-poster's profile is a mix of everything.

If the trail runs cold, say so honestly in your credit rather than guessing. "Original creator unknown, found via Pinterest" is a weak credit, but it is an honest one, and it invites someone who knows to tell you.

Step two: decide what to write

A useful credit answers three questions: who made it, where it lives, and what you changed. Keep it short and put it where people will see it, not in a place that needs a click to reach.

Situation	Minimum credit	Better credit
A slide in a talk or a client deck	Creator's name or handle on the slide	Name, platform, and a link in the notes or appendix
A caption on your own post	Name and platform	Name, platform, link to the original pin, and a note if you cropped or trimmed
A document, handout or lesson sheet	Name and URL in a footer or reference list	Name, URL, and the date you saved it
A private notes file for your own reference	The pin URL	The pin URL, the creator name, and the date

The last row matters more than it looks. If you keep saved pins in folders, keeping the original URL next to each file is what makes a proper credit possible months later. Our guide to organising downloaded pins suggests a simple notes file for exactly this.

Wording that works

Plain and specific beats decorative. Some patterns that read well in most contexts:

"Video by [name] on Pinterest, original at [URL]."
"Tutorial: [name] ([handle]). Trimmed to the first 20 seconds for this lesson."
"Reference image by [name], used with permission."

Avoid vague forms such as "credit to owner" or "not mine." They name nobody and help nobody.

When a link back is enough

A link is a good credit when the use is one that credit alone can support: a private reference, a slide in a classroom, a mention in a written piece, or a reference board shown to a small group. Designers keeping references for a project usually fall here, and the offline mood board guide explains how to present sourced references in a client deck without ever implying the work is yours.

A link is not enough when the video itself is the thing being shared. Reposting the file to your own account with a link in the caption is still reposting. The link makes it a credited repost, not a permitted one. In those cases, move to the permission step below.

What Creative Commons changes

Some creators publish their work under a Creative Commons licence, which grants everyone certain rights in advance. The Creative Commons licence types range from the most permissive, which asks only for attribution, to more restrictive ones that forbid commercial use or modification. If a video carries one of these licences, the licence tells you exactly what you may do and exactly how to credit.

Three cautions. First, the licence has to come from the creator, usually on their own site; a re-pinner cannot grant it. Second, Pinterest pins do not display a licence, so you have to trace the work to its source to find one. Third, most Pinterest content has no Creative Commons licence at all, and in that case the default rules apply: in the United States, the Copyright Office notes that protection is automatic from the moment a work is created, whether or not it carries any notice.

Step three: ask for permission when credit is not enough

Asking is the part people put off, and it is usually the easiest part. Reach the creator through the contact route on their profile or website and send something short. A template you can adapt:

Hello [name], I found your video "[title or description]" on Pinterest at [URL]. I would like to use it in [what, where, and for whom], and I would credit you as "[exact wording]" with a link to [where]. Is that all right with you? If you would prefer a different credit, or would rather I did not use it, please tell me. Thank you for making it.

Keep the answer. A short yes in writing is a licence for the use you described, and it ends the fair-use question for that use. If the answer is no, respect it. If there is no answer, the absence of a reply is not a yes.

If you see your own work reposted

The same trail you would follow to credit someone else works in reverse when you are the creator. Once you have found the copy, Pinterest has a takedown form for pins, and downloader sites have their own processes. KeepPin's DMCA policy describes what to send to [email protected], and the DMCA guide for Pinterest creators covers the whole route, including what to do about a false claim against you.