# User posting nothing but copyrighted material **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [May 16, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227 "2025-05-16T20:26:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsamyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jsamyn/32/59205_2.png) [@jsamyn](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jsamyn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/1 "2025-05-16T20:26:42Z")
There’s a single user who keeps posting nothing but clearly copyrighted images. Reverse image searches always leads to other sites such as [gobotany.com](http://gobotany.com), etc and all images have different copyright holders. It’s starting to become tedious to see them post more often and having to flag each one. Is there any other recourse possible here that a curator or moderator can look into? I’ve rarely had to flag observations before and now I’m doing it multiple times a day for one user. Any help/feedback would be appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![tiwane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tiwane/32/54612_2.png) [@tiwane](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tiwane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/2 "2025-05-16T20:38:25Z")
Usually a curator will see the pattern and suspend or reach out to the user pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![sbrobeson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/sbrobeson/32/26432_2.png) [@sbrobeson](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/sbrobeson)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/3 "2025-05-16T22:11:54Z")
from what I can tell, it appears this user (like others I’ve seen) is trying to use iNaturalist to cheat on a quiz – some of the photos are visibly in a test format with the prompt “Name this plant” (sometimes with additional details). I suspended the user in this case, it seems likely they know what they’re doing. EDIT: the images themselves seem to be copied (maybe even with permission) for educational purposes. it’s the user’s behaviour (academic dishonesty?) that’s the bigger problem in my view. I’m not sure how to proactively prevent this kind of thing, but I do recommend that if you see this repeatedly, to tag curator(s) or staff on a recent copyright flag to get it dealt with. ---
**Author:** ![jsamyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jsamyn/32/59205_2.png) [@jsamyn](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jsamyn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 12:16am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/4 "2025-05-17T00:16:10Z")
Ah thank you! I will definitely keep that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![yayemaster](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yayemaster/32/12153_2.png) [@yayemaster](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yayemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/5 "2025-05-17T00:25:34Z")
Just a quick heads up. The correct link is [Go Botany: Native Plant Trust](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/) ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 7:43am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/6 "2025-05-17T07:43:02Z")
Do we have a polite response to use in comments - this is **your** homework / assignment? [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/school-homework-questions-on-the-forum/34848](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/school-homework-questions-on-the-forum/34848) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 7:44am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/user-posting-nothing-but-copyrighted-material/65227/7 "2025-07-16T07:44:04Z")
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