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Changes to license settings

· 7 minutes read
izeltlabuak.hu
izeltlabuak.hu

On the izeltlabuak.hu website, our users share their own observation data and images with the community. These are their property, and they can decide how others can use them, for example in an educational article or when appearing in a scientific publication.

We strive to provide the most convenient and comprehensive setting interfaces for these as well. The changes better align with user needs and international trends.

The new settings also favor interoperability between different platforms. For distribution data, the use of standard methods enables data sharing for research and nature conservation purposes.

Note about izeltlabuak.hu (arthropods)

The izeltlabuak.hu website primarily focuses on arthropods found in Hungary. This entry also deals with Hungarian fauna.

Affected areas​

Separation of license for images and observations​

Previously, the specified license applied to both observation data and images at the same time. We have now separated this, and we can specify separate license for our observations and images. We can find the settings in our profile settings under the License settings menu item.

Setting license for images
Setting license for images

Expansion of the license list​

As committed supporters of free culture, we have determined the primary license to be the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (Attribution 4.0 International) license, which applied to both images and observations. The user could deviate from this and set custom license, which they could formulate themselves.

From now on, other free license can also be specified, and the All rights reserved license can also be selected, which requires the author's consent for use.

The list of selectable license:

We are sharing the data on the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) platform. This is an internationally accepted and recognized interface, the purpose of which is to centrally coordinate and publicly publish biodiversity data. GBIF only supports CC-BY and CC-BY-NC licenses from the list elements. It is advisable to take this into account when selecting terms of use.

License for imported observations and images​

On the izeltlabuak.hu website, it is currently only possible to import images from the Flickr external platform. This will expand to other platforms in the future, and not only images but also observations can be imported from other suitable interfaces.

The user can only import their own observations and images, they are the owner of the copyrights on both platforms. They can decide which platform's specified license should apply when using their images and observations.

There was already a setting for this, but now it has been separated for images and observations. In addition, when prioritizing the license specified on the external platform, the license display was not detailed, only containing a reference to the original source.

Setting license for imported data
Setting license for imported data

Selecting imported interface as primary source
Selecting imported interface as primary source

Display of license for observations and images​

The license for observations and images have always been clearly visible on the observation page and in various display locations of images. With the current change, these have become even more detailed and transparent.

Display of license on observation page
Display of license on observation page

Detailed view of license on observation page
Detailed view of license on observation page

Display of imported license on observation page
Display of imported license on observation page

Display of license in image window
Display of license in image window

License on the profile page​

A user's license for their images and observations can also be viewed on the profile page.

License set by user
License set by user

Changes in data export​

On izeltlabuak.hu, there is the possibility to export various observation data:

  • by taxonomic groups
  • we can export all observations of a given user
  • or those in an observation group

Previously, the exported file consisted of a csv file that contained the observation data, the associated images, and the details of the common license. As a consequence of separating the license for observations and images, it became necessary to split the exported result into multiple files. From now on, when exporting, we receive a zip compressed file that contains an observations csv file, an images file, and a text information file about the query details.

Exported observations
Exported observations

We hope that the new changes will make the website more convenient to use and will please every user. We trust that we will soon be able to expand the list of interfaces from which we can import our data. As good news, we can report that manual and automatic export functions are also among the near-term plans.