I would like to use a screenshot from iNat in a paper

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Hi. I want to use a screen shot from iNaturalist that is just the map of the observation distribution of a single species. There are no images or names just the map. I need to have permission for all images I use. Can I use this image and if so how do I obtain permission to use it? This is a casual paper.

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Hi @eelizadams, see this FAQ answer (https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000170344-how-should-i-cite-inaturalist-):

If you must cite a download directly from iNaturalist rather than one from GBIF, please use this format:

iNaturalist community. Observations of [species list] from [geographic area], [country name] observed on/between [date range]. Exported from https://www.inaturalist.org on [date]

For the map backgrounds, I think you’d also need to cite OpenStreetMap or Google depending on which one you choose to use, see https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Licence/Attribution_Guidelines and https://about.google/brand-resource-center/products-and-services/geo-guidelines/#google-map

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You can also try reaching out to staff:

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/permission-to-publish-screenshot-of-inat-page/53643

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In general iNat is OK with its own elements being used in cases likes, such as buttons and text from the app, please credit iNat. But iNat doesn’t own the data or the map tiles, so that’s where things get more complicated.

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I don’t see this case as particularly complicated. I assume this is a paper for a class, rather than a journal? If that’s so the format mentioned by @bouteloua should work well. If there are doubts, the professor can be pointed to that help page link.

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If you’re using the ‘Satellite’ map layer (rather then the OpenStreetMap layer), this comes from Google Maps. Who owns the copyright for the Google Maps tiles depends on how far you are zoomed in. In your example screenshot the map tile imagery comes from NASA and is public domain. If you’re zoomed in to a small area, however, the tile imagery might be from a commercial company such as Maxar. The copyright for the presentation of the underlying map (styling of boundaries, labels, roads, etc.) belongs to Google, although in your example screenshot this styling probably doesn’t pass the threshold of originality required by U.S. courts to uphold copyright protection. In other words, the styling of this particular map is too simple and unoriginal to be copyrighted. This probably also changes depending on how zoomed in you are. In the United States, the iNat data overlayed onto the map is not protected by copyright (or related rights). This is somewhat different in Europe and other countries, however, which have a thing called ‘database rights’. In this case, however, the dataset is being compiled and presented automatically, so there is no author and thus no database rights protection. And although an entire observation record can be protected by database rights (thus the need for CC licenses for observation data), the mere fact that a species was observed in a particular location cannot be protected by copyright or database rights in any country. Thus, there is no need for permission from the observers. The presentation of the iNat data is theoretically copyrighted by iNaturalist, although again it is probably too simple and unoriginal to be copyrighted. It would be nice if iNat explicitly waived this copyright, but I’m sure it would just confuse people (see wall of text above). In short, unless you are more zoomed in on that map, you almost certainly don’t need permission to use it. But of course your publisher probably won’t accept that, so you might have to download the data and put it on your own map even though this is a total waste of time. Either way, please use the suggested citation format given by bouteloua.

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Thanks for the reply :slightly_smiling_face: . This is an informal paper for a class that could possibly be published as an extension article, but I doubt mine will be chosen for that. My professor is requiring us to get permissions for every image that is not our own. I am not sure if my image is public domain and if it is how I prove that in writing.

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Thank you! I was looking for a way to contact iNat and couldn’t find this email help@inaturalist.org

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Thank you! this is helpful.

I am not sure about the last part as I didn’t choose one or the other. Is there a way to tell which one is being used?

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Thank you! i sent an email to help@inaturalist.org so I can have proof of permission that my professor is requiring. Unless there is some other way to prove it is public domain?

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The map background in the image you’ve posted above is Google Maps. If you call up that map again, you’ll see in the bottom right corner it says, “Map Data © Google, INEGI.” INEGI is the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography

https://en.www.inegi.org.mx/mapas/

So best practice would be to cite

  1. the iNaturalist Community (as @bouteloua described above)
  2. Google Maps (as described here: https://writeanswers.royalroads.ca/faq/199225 )
  3. INEGI, which I would do by adding them as an additional author on the same citation as Google Maps

In practice, most authors, even in journals, just cite iNat as the source of the map.

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Not a research grade paper? :smiley:

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Not a research paper. Just an informal paper that probably wont be seen by anyone other than my TA. However, the professor is requiring an additional page to be turned in separately that has proof of permission of all images or tables used that we did not create. I have never had a professor ask for this before and I think it’s strange and I’m kinda stumped. I emailed a person to use their photo from Bugguide.net so i have an email from him saying I can use it
.is that what my professor wants??lol I will ask my TA about it I just haven’t yet.

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This was answered by another user! :smiley:

I definitely know how to cite the picture now, thanks!

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Thank you! This is very helpful.:star_struck:

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Out of curiosity, what species are you mapping? If you don’t want to or can’t say for some reason, that’s fine. I was just interested.

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The Mexican bee fly or Orange needle nose fly Bombylius mexicanus

They are devastatingly cute! I am taking a Honey Bee biology class and as one of the graduate student requirements we have to write a paper in the style of the extension articles. Mine is not going to be good enough for publication but I am trying to fulfil the requirements of somehow proving on paper that I have permission for all images, not just citing them.

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Don’t even think like that. Tell yourself that you’re going to write one that is good enough to publish and stick to it.

Aim for the moon, and even if you miss you’ll end up among the stars.

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i think you need to clarify with your professor about what constitutes an “image” for this rule. is it just a photo? maps and screenshots are slightly different beasts.




i think if you’re going to use a screenshot of a map from iNaturalist, you should show the whole thing. particularly in this case, you’ve cropped out the attributions in the bottom-right corner of the screen, which is bad karma, if you’re going to include it in a paper.

if you don’t want to show the whole map as it exists on the iNat page, then in my mind, you really should create your own version of the map using iNat data. that’s not hard to do.

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Thanks! Yes, they are cute. Also they occur in my state–I’ll have to keep an eye out for them. Good luck–I hope the paper is chosen. You seem intent on making the very best effort and meeting all the requirements.

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