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 individuality 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.
Highlights
Communication is a key part of science
Researchers not based in these countries, but wanting to use photographs from these countries, are not subject to this restriction. Considering this outline of intellectual property rights, we conclude that principles of copyright do not normally apply to scientific images because most images adhere to the conventions of the discipline
Copyrightable works are defined as individual, original human creations, that show originality in the form of presentation compared to other works of the same kind
Summary
Communication is a key part of science. Through access to prior scientific results and through communication of new results, we collectively assemble a better understanding of the world than can be achieved by individuals working in isolation. Article 2 paragraph 1 of the Berne Convention (World Intellectual Property Organization 1979a) declares that "the expression 'literary and artistic works' shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; (...) works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography (...)." Member countries of the Berne Convention are obliged to protect illustrations such as “drawings” and other artistic works or "photographic works" by their national copyright law (Masouyé 1981). Databases are protected by intellectual property rights to the extent that they qualify as works in the sense of copyright This is the case where there is individuality in the selection of data or in the form of presentation of these data. Researchers not based in these countries, but wanting to use photographs from these countries, are not subject to this restriction
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