The author says this is for logistical reasons, but I can imagine some principled arguments for the journals having such a policy too. The journal _is_ more useful for everyone if it can also serve as a source of reusable scientific images. In the ideal case, the authors would notice that they could not use a copyrighted photo of an ant, so they would go out and take their own photo, or pay a photographer to do so. If they just used ant photos under fair use, then nobody would have an incentive to create new CC-licensed ones.
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The author says this is for logistical reasons, but I can imagine some principled arguments for the journals having such a policy too. The journal _is_ more useful for everyone if it can also serve as a source of reusable scientific images. In the ideal case, the authors would notice that they could not use a copyrighted photo of an ant, so they would go out and take their own photo, or pay a photographer to do so. If they just used ant photos under fair use, then nobody would have an incentive to create new CC-licensed ones.