J

13 Messages

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228 Points

Saturday, February 15th, 2025 5:08 AM

Solved

When is supporting evidence needed?

I often submit additions and corrections to titles on IMDb, and I generally don't get asked to provide verification.  I assume either the people reviewing my submissions believe me, since what I submit is reasonable, or they actually go out and watch the scene in question to verify it themselves, although I highly doubt they do the latter on most since some are approved very quickly.

But recently #250213-182201-447000 was declined as unable to verify, and I don't understand why, when most others I submitted for the same show and other shows didn't get declined.  Also, does "unable to verify" mean "we don't have access to watch this episode ourselves to verify it" or "you didn't provide enough supporting documentation for us to believe you"?  If the latter, why would it be declined rather than sending back some sort of prompt to please upload supporting documentation for review before its status is decided?

If you want me to provide supporting documentation, it would be helpful to know what specifically you want.  In this case, an actor is listed as (credit only) when they actually DO appear in the episode, and have speaking parts.  So do I need to just send a screenshot from the episode that shows them?  If so, how will you know it's from this episode?  Do I need to make sure it also shows actors who are in no other episodes, therefore you know it's this one?  Or do you also want to confirm he is speaking and need me to upload video?  And if so, are there copyright concerns with doing this?

Employee

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2.2K Messages

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22.4K Points

2 months ago

Hi @jbmorris,

Thank you for reporting this.

We appreciate that providing evidence for corrections such as the above can be difficult, however we would just advise including as much information to support your correction as possible. Whether that be screenshots or links to websites that corroborate the correction. Our data editors can use this information to verify the additions, corrections or deletions you're trying to make. In this instance, I have reviewed your submission, and verified that the (credit only) attribute is not accurate. As such, I have removed it. This update will appear live across all IMDb platforms shortly.

To answer your question, the term "unable to verify" means that the contribution required more of an explanation or supporting evidence to confirm the correction is accurate and required. I will pass on your feedback regarding a prompt to provide supporting documentation for review prior the submission being processed.

You can find more information in our Help guides for correcting credits, and providing evidence for credit submissions. As always, the more information you supply with submissions, the easier it will be for our teams to process and approve your contributions.

I hope this helps!

13 Messages

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228 Points

Great, thank you Ozzy!  It still confuses me as to why more documentation was required for this particular item and not for dozens of others I've submitted.  I do check the box to provide explanations to the editors when I think it's appropriate, as I did here.  But I don't think I've ever uploaded photos or video to substantiate my claims, and they generally get approved.  I guess I'll continue my current method since it works 90% or more of the time.  Then when something like this gets rejected, I'll resubmit with more info.

Employee

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2.2K Messages

 • 

22.4K Points

Hi @jbmorris,

That would be the best way to go forward! Please do let us know if you face any similar issues, and we will provide all the help we can. 

Cheers!