Effective Date: January 1, 2026

These Terms of Service govern your use of Botanical Gesture Lab ("the Site"), located at botanicalillustrationpractice.com, operated by Matthew Raya Steinbeiss ("we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by these terms.

Use of the Site

Botanical Gesture Lab provides a free, browser-based timed drawing practice tool for botanical illustrators. The tool fetches plant observation data from iNaturalist and reference images from external sources. You may use the Site for personal, educational, and non-commercial purposes.

You agree not to misuse the Site, interfere with its operation, or attempt to access it through automated means other than those provided by the Site itself. You may not use the Site for any unlawful purpose.

Intellectual Property

The original content on this Site — including text, design, code, and blog articles — is the property of Matthew Raya Steinbeiss and is protected by copyright. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from this content without written permission.

Plant observation data displayed on the Site is sourced from iNaturalist and is used under their API terms. Photographs and species information are sourced from Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons and are subject to their respective licenses. The AI-powered features use Anthropic's Claude and are subject to Anthropic's terms of service.

Disclaimer of Warranties

The Site is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. Plant identification data sourced from iNaturalist is community-verified and may contain errors — do not rely on it for purposes where misidentification could cause harm (such as foraging or medical use).

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Site, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Third-Party Services

The Site integrates with third-party services including iNaturalist, Wikipedia, and Anthropic's Claude AI. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or content of these services. Your use of these third-party services is subject to their respective terms and policies.

Advertising

The Site may display advertisements served by Google AdSense or other advertising partners. These ads may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this or other websites. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings.

Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Service at any time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.

Contact

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us through the contact page.