Copyright & permissions

Links welcome — including shops

Shops, growers, clubs, publications and other commercial or non-commercial websites are welcome to link to any publicly available page in The Moss Manual. You do not need to ask permission to share a normal link.

For example, a shop may link from a moss listing to the relevant specimen profile so customers can read the observations and identification evidence. A link does not grant permission to copy the article or use its photographs in that listing, and does not imply endorsement by Greg Walker or The Moss Manual.

Copyright and licence

© 2026 Greg Walker. Except where otherwise credited, original text, specimen photography and microscopy images in The Moss Manual are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

This permits copying and sharing for non-commercial purposes, subject to the licence conditions. Give appropriate credit, retain supplied copyright and credit notices, link to the original source and licence, and indicate any changes. You may not distribute adapted material under this licence or impose additional legal or technological restrictions on uses the licence permits.

This page is a practical explanation. The full Creative Commons legal code sets out the licence terms.

Commercial reproduction and image use

The licence does not grant permission to reproduce articles, photographs or microscopy images for commercial purposes. This includes using images in product listings, advertising or promotional material. Separate permission from the relevant rights holder is required unless the use is otherwise permitted by law.

A commercial website may link to the Manual without receiving permission to reproduce the material it links to. Sharing buttons share a page link; they do not grant additional reuse rights.

Attribution

For material covered by the Manual’s licence, a useful starting credit is: “[Entry or image title] — Greg Walker, The Moss Manual. Source: [original page URL]. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.” Include a link to the licence, retain any supplied image-specific credits and state any changes.

Third-party material and legal exceptions

Contributed images, quotations and other third-party material may have different owners and terms. Follow the credits attached to that material; this notice does not grant rights Greg Walker does not hold.

Nothing here restricts uses permitted by applicable law, including relevant copyright exceptions, or claims copyright over underlying facts and ideas. Other rights, including rights in a database where applicable, may still be relevant.

AI-generated images, descriptions & representations

The use of AI-generated or AI-altered specimen photographs, microscopy images, descriptions or other material presented as representing The Moss Manual’s documented specimens or findings is strongly discouraged. Refer readers to the original profiles, photographs and observations instead.

AI-generated material must not misrepresent specimen appearance, microscopic structures, diagnostic features, identification confidence, sources or conclusions. Do not present invented observations, altered evidence or generated descriptions as original work, verified findings or approved material from Greg Walker / The Moss Manual, or imply endorsement.

Greg Walker / The Moss Manual may request correction or removal of material that inaccurately represents its work, imagery, findings or attribution. This guidance does not add conditions to the Creative Commons licence or override uses permitted by law; the existing licence terms continue to govern reproduction and adaptations.

Requests for additional permission

To ask about commercial reproduction or another use outside the licence, contact Greg Walker through Niskai Aquatics. Identify the page or images, the proposed use and where the material would appear. Permission for third-party material must come from its rights holder.