Fossil Submission & Image Use Terms
Fossil identification submissions
Fossil identification requests submitted to the London Basin Palaeontological Society (LBPS) are reviewed using the photographs and information provided by the person making the submission.
LBPS will make reasonable efforts to provide an accurate identification, but fossil identification from photographs can sometimes be uncertain. Any identification provided should therefore be regarded as an informed opinion based on the information available and may be revised if further evidence or specialist advice becomes available.
Submitted photographs
You should only submit photographs that you have taken yourself or that you otherwise have permission to provide to LBPS.
Submitting photographs for identification does not transfer copyright ownership to LBPS. Copyright remains with the photographer or other copyright owner.
Permission to use photographs
The fossil identification form includes a separate, optional choice allowing you to give LBPS permission to use your submitted fossil photographs for educational and non-commercial purposes.
If you give this permission, you grant LBPS permission to reproduce, display, crop, resize and otherwise prepare the photographs where reasonably necessary for use in:
- the LBPS fossil identification database
- species and specimen reference pages
- educational articles and identification guides
- Society presentations and educational material
- other LBPS website content
Giving this permission is optional and is not required in order to receive help identifying a fossil.
Photograph credits
Where practical, LBPS may credit photographs to the photographer or contributor. If you would like a particular name used for attribution, please provide this when submitting the images or contact LBPS.
LBPS may sometimes omit a visible credit where the context or layout makes this impractical, but this does not transfer ownership of the image to LBPS.
Withdrawing permission
If you have given LBPS permission to use your photographs and later wish to withdraw that permission, please contact us.
LBPS will stop new uses of the photographs and, where reasonably practicable, remove them from active LBPS website and database content. Material that has already been distributed, downloaded, printed, archived or incorporated into previously published material may not always be capable of being completely withdrawn.
Fossil and locality information
Information supplied with a fossil identification request may be used to help establish the identity and geological context of the specimen.
LBPS will not intentionally publish personal contact details submitted through the identification form.
Where locality information could reveal a sensitive, restricted or privately accessible fossil site, LBPS may generalise or withhold precise location information when presenting records publicly.
Identification records
Where a submitted specimen provides useful educational or scientific information, LBPS may retain an identification record in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Photographs will only be reused in the LBPS database or educational resources where the necessary permission has been given.
Questions
If you have any questions about a fossil submission, photograph use or an existing LBPS record, please contact us through the Contact Us page.
Last updated: 11 August 2026