I am trying to make a journal entry guide for identifying different species of Kalanchoe, and would like the descriptions to be accompanied by images of leaves and flowers. Am I legally allowed to use images from the web or from other peoples’ observations since it’s not any sort of formal publicati…

if you want to err on the side of caution, you should look for the copyright and licensing terms on each photo and just make sure you’re following the terms of any license. if you want to go with more of a caution-to-the-wind approach, you could just claim that you’re making the journal entries for…

Do you think it would be easier to just put links to the observations instead of using the images?

For iNat observations, it all depends on the settings people have for their observations. I think pretty much anyone would be OK with you using their photos if you ask first, even if they have more restrictive settings.

[image] andrew-gray: Do you think it would be easier to just put links to the observations instead of using the images? from a reader’s perspective, it’s almost always easier to have images in line with the text, but if you want to be super cautious with copyright and don’t want to go through…

You should provide links to the observations and observer/photographer credit no matter what.

My picture was used here. He asked first. And I am delighted that my lookit the pretty moth!! Turned into such an interesting obs. https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/wynand_uys/77618-the-southern-african-syntomines-with-fewer-than-five-forewing-patches-and-a-golden-yellow-dorsal-patch-on-the-first…

If it has a CC ( Creative Commons ) license, you can use it without having to ask for permission. That’s what those licenses are for: granting anyone permission to use the work within the terms of those licenses. Almost all require attribution (image credit) and I would make that a link to the origina…

I think mine are automatically set to All Rights Reserved, but if someone asked me, I’d let them use it however they wanted. I’d prefer a credit, but I’m no professional, so in the long run, it’s not a huge deal to me. I say err on the side of correctness and ask the observer.

Can I use images from Google or observations in a journal post?

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Use of user observations copyrighted photographs within iNaturalist journal feature General question	6	1052	March 2, 2021
Use of your own photos both on Inaturalist and in scientific papers (transferring copyright etc) General	2	953	August 26, 2019
Copyright Edge Case... Is it possible to post images (with set copyright permissions) that other people took... if they allow you to? General	7	986	November 21, 2021
Posting non-observation journal images as observations? General journal-posts	21	558	December 26, 2025
Copyrighted records: is it possible to cite them in academic papers? How? General question	22	1042	October 25, 2024

Can I use images from Google or observations in a journal post?

Related topics