Dear Nature lovers :) I hope you’re doing well. I recently came across numerous observations on iNaturalist that appear to contain images sourced from the internet. To verify, I used tools like Google Images and TinEye, which confirmed that many of these photos were taken from external websites rat…

(Edited to add a specific first example) Just to clarify some of the feedback I gave you, sometimes I’ve seen you (and others, including myself) flag an image as copyright infringement when I don’t think it’s necessarily infringing on someone’s copyright. I’m not a lawyer, but here are two differen…

If you are definitely sure that something is copyright infringement (ie, you find the exact same photo posted somewhere else previously), I think it’s fine to flag directly for copyright. I would also suggest leaving a polite comment with the source and explaining the issue. Many are from new users …

[image] salix-babylonica: As a result, I’ve refrained from flagging them, even though I have come across numerous images from stock photo websites being uploaded as if they were like original observations. This has been discussed previously in copyright threads, but if someone has selected on…

Speaking as a curator - I, for one, appreciate all the flags you have done! You’ve helped to clean up so many inappropriate images and copyright issues, and made the site a better place by your efforts. I’m sorry you’ve received negative responses to your contributions. As to your questions - Any …

I am one of the curators who asked you not to flag so many things because of the workload it creates, this is because you were flagging large numbers of human images just because they were human, even if they didn’t break any rules. Photos taken from the internet are a different matter entirely, th…

[image] graysquirrel: Speaking as a curator - I, for one, appreciate all the flags you have done! You’ve helped to clean up so many inappropriate images and copyright issues, and made the site a better place by your efforts. I’m sorry you’ve received negative responses to your contributions. As…

[image] rupertclayton: Make sure to select “Copyright Infringement” for the type of flag, as other flags (e.g. “Offensive / Inappropriate”) do require curators to review them and take action. Only do this if you are sure that it is infringement, if unsure flag as “other” becasue you want a cu…

[image] tiwane: I’m not claiming that I took the bird image that’s on the sign was created by me. I just took a photo of a sign that happened to include an image made by someone. … I don’t think the copyright infringement flag is suited for that situation because my photograph of the sign is wha…

While usually I assume good intent, I have usually come across this on observations made by new users/those with few observations, it is usually obvious that the image is not theirs, by looking at their other observations and comparing quality, the metadata of the picture in question and compare it …

[image] dgwdoesthings: While usually I assume good intent, I have usually come across this on observations made by new users/those with few observations, it is usually obvious that the image is not theirs, by looking at their other observations and comparing quality, the metadata of the picture …

Sorry I did not mean to reply to you directly, only quote a certain portion. [image] ItsMeLucy: I am so sorry not to quite follow what this sentence means. I was trying to say that while I usually assume the best from people, I do not hesitate to flag suspicious images as it is usually very …

Concern About Internet-Sourced Images on iNaturalist

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Spotting copyright violations Tutorials	104	10664	August 11, 2026
On the use of CC0 photos downloaded from the web Curators	27	3271	April 24, 2021
A tsunami of copyright infringement General	42	2868	May 6, 2024
Observations too-hastily marked as inappropriate - How do you deal with them? Curators	29	2506	August 16, 2023
Flag a user Feature Requests	23	4213	June 2, 2020

Concern About Internet-Sourced Images on iNaturalist

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