Here’s what I saw when opening the signup form just now:
Now, if I were to object to anything in this process, it is NOT that the users are not being informed that their works will be available to others. I don’t really see how iNat could be much clearer on this point, perhaps beyond making users actively check that box instead of having it be selected by default (I’d argue this would be a good idea.)
My main issue here is that their presentation of the NC license is misleading. It reads:
“This means anyone can copy and reuse your photos and/or observations without asking your permission as long as they give you credit and don’t use the works commercially.”
It also says: “…this is the best license for sharing with researchers.”
I am arguing, in this post, that these claims are misleading. I have provided a compelling case that it is not the best license for sharing with researchers, as well as that, in practice, it discourages a lot of non-commercial use, so both aspects of the text are misleading.
I do have another issue here, but it’s something that could be fixed independently of this whole discussion, and I think it would address a major objection that several people have voiced (and that I share.) The text “You can…remove the license later.” is also misleading, because you cannot legally retract a license that has been granted. So, for instance, if someone has already reused a work, you cannot legally require them to take it down if you later change the license to something more restrictive. So this aspect of the wording is also misleading.
Basically, I see the status quo as (1) misleading people about the effect of the NC license (2) making people do a lot of extra work if they want to select anything other than NC (checking yes) or retaining copyright (unchecking the box.) So not only is iNat making NC the default, it’s strongly discouraging any other open licenses. This is why I object so strongly to the status quo.
I strongly suspect that if users were given, instead, a three-way or more choice, that more people would select more permissive licenses on signup. I also strongly suspect that if the wording were no so strongly loaded in favor of the NC license, that fewer people would select it.