Short answer: downloading a Pinterest video for personal, offline use sits in a gray area, Pinterest’s Terms of Service don’t explicitly forbid it, but the video itself belongs to whoever created it, and copyright law still applies. Saving for yourself is very different from reposting someone else’s work as your own.
This is a plain-English overview, not legal advice. When in doubt, ask the creator or a lawyer.
What Pinterest’s Terms actually say
Pinterest’s Terms of Service grant you a license to use the service, but the content on Pinterest is owned by the people who posted it (or their licensors). Nothing in the Terms gives you ownership of a video just because you can view it. The key question isn’t “can I technically download this”, it’s “what am I allowed to do with it once I have it.”
Personal use vs. redistribution
Copyright law in most countries draws a practical line here:
- Saving for personal use, keeping a workout video to watch offline, archiving a recipe you want to try, is the lowest-risk scenario. Rights holders rarely pursue personal, non-commercial saving.
- Reposting without permission, uploading someone else’s video to your own Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, is where people actually get into trouble. This is redistribution, and the creator can file a takedown or worse.
- Commercial use, using someone’s video in an ad, a product page, or monetized content without a license, carries the highest risk.
Fair use (and why it’s narrower than you think)
“Fair use” (US) and “fair dealing” (UK, Canada, Australia and others) can protect commentary, criticism, parody, and education, but they are defenses, not permissions. They don’t automatically make reposting okay, and the rules differ by country. “I found it on Pinterest” is never a defense on its own.
How to stay on the right side
- Keep downloads personal unless you have permission to do more.
- Credit the creator whenever you share, a credit doesn’t replace permission, but it’s the baseline of decent behavior.
- Ask before reposting. Many creators are happy to say yes if you ask; a quick comment or DM takes a minute.
- Don’t strip watermarks or crop out credits.
- Use Pinterest’s own Save feature when you just want to organize ideas, it keeps everything inside Pinterest with attribution intact.
What about Pinterest’s own download button?
Some pins have a native download option provided by the creator or Pinterest. When that’s available, it’s the clearest signal the creator is fine with you saving the file, prefer it over third-party tools.
Our position
DownloadPins exists because people want offline access to content they love, the same reason browsers have a “save as” function. The tool doesn’t remove watermarks, doesn’t bypass private content (secret boards and private pins simply don’t work, see fixes), and doesn’t grant you any rights over the files. What you do with a download is your responsibility: keep it personal, credit creators, and ask before reposting. If you’re a rights holder and want something removed, our DMCA policy explains how to request that.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to download Pinterest videos?
There’s no law that specifically bans downloading a video you can already view. The legal risk comes from what you do next, reposting, selling, or claiming someone else’s work as your own is where copyright infringement happens.
Can I get in trouble for saving videos for myself?
Personal, offline saving is the lowest-risk use and is rarely pursued by rights holders. Just don’t redistribute what you save.
Does crediting the creator make reposting legal?
No, credit is good practice but not a substitute for permission. If you want to repost, ask the creator first.
What if the video has no watermark or credit?
It still belongs to someone. Absence of a watermark doesn’t mean absence of copyright.
Can Pinterest ban me for using a downloader?
Pinterest’s Terms prohibit scraping and automated access at scale. Occasional manual downloading via a tool is a gray area; bulk scraping is clearly against the Terms. Use downloaders reasonably.
I’m a creator, how do I stop people downloading my videos?
Keep your boards secret, disable downloads where Pinterest offers the option, watermark your content, and use Pinterest’s reporting tools or our DMCA page if your work is reposted without permission.
Try it at our Pinterest video downloader.