Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Copyright and the Use of Images as Biodiversity Data

Willi Egloff, View ORCID ProfileDonat Agosti, View ORCID ProfilePuneet Kishor, View ORCID ProfileDavid Patterson, View ORCID ProfileJeremy A. Miller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/087015
Willi Egloff
1Plazi, Zinggstrasse 16, CH 3007 Bern, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Donat Agosti
1Plazi, Zinggstrasse 16, CH 3007 Bern, Switzerland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Donat Agosti
Puneet Kishor
1Plazi, Zinggstrasse 16, CH 3007 Bern, Switzerland
2Glenshaw, Washington DC 20037, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Puneet Kishor
David Patterson
1Plazi, Zinggstrasse 16, CH 3007 Bern, Switzerland
3University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 20-04, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for David Patterson
Jeremy A. Miller
1Plazi, Zinggstrasse 16, CH 3007 Bern, Switzerland
4Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Postbus 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Jeremy A. Miller
  • For correspondence: jeremy.miller@naturalis.nl egloff_bader@bluewin.ch agosti@plazi.org pkishor@icloud.com patterson.david.joseph@gmail.com
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

1. Abstract

Taxonomy is the discipline responsible for charting the world’s organismic diversity, understanding ancestor/descendant relationships, and organizing all species according to a unified taxonomic classification system. Taxonomists document the attributes (characters) of organisms, with emphasis on those can be used to distinguish species from each other. Character information is compiled in the scientific literature as text, tables, and images. The information is presented according to conventions that vary among taxonomic domains; such conventions facilitate comparison among similar species, even when descriptions are published by different authors.

There is considerable uncertainty within the taxonomic community as to how to re-use images that were included in taxonomic publications, especially in regard to whether copyright applies. This article deals with the principles and application of copyright law, database protection, and protection against unfair competition, as applied to images. We conclude that copyright does not apply to most images in taxonomic literature because they are presented in a standardized way and lack the creativity that is required to qualify as 'copyrightable works'. There are exceptions, such as wildlife photographs, drawings and artwork produced in a distinctive individual form and intended for other than comparative purposes (such as visual art). Further exceptions may apply to collections of images that qualify as a database in the sense of European database protection law. In a few European countries, there is legal protection for photographs that do not qualify as works in the usual sense of copyright. It follows that most images found in taxonomic literature can be re-used for research or many other purposes without seeking permission, regardless of any copyright declaration. In observance of ethical and scholarly standards, re-users are expected to cite the author and original source of any image that they use.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted November 11, 2016.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Copyright and the Use of Images as Biodiversity Data
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Copyright and the Use of Images as Biodiversity Data
Willi Egloff, Donat Agosti, Puneet Kishor, David Patterson, Jeremy A. Miller
bioRxiv 087015; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/087015
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Copyright and the Use of Images as Biodiversity Data
Willi Egloff, Donat Agosti, Puneet Kishor, David Patterson, Jeremy A. Miller
bioRxiv 087015; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/087015

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Scientific Communication and Education
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3701)
  • Biochemistry (7820)
  • Bioengineering (5695)
  • Bioinformatics (21343)
  • Biophysics (10603)
  • Cancer Biology (8206)
  • Cell Biology (11974)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6786)
  • Ecology (10425)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13908)
  • Genetics (9731)
  • Genomics (13109)
  • Immunology (8171)
  • Microbiology (20064)
  • Molecular Biology (7875)
  • Neuroscience (43171)
  • Paleontology (321)
  • Pathology (1282)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2267)
  • Physiology (3363)
  • Plant Biology (7254)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1316)
  • Synthetic Biology (2012)
  • Systems Biology (5550)
  • Zoology (1133)