Ph.D. Dissertations and Copyright Issues Related to the Publication of Dissertations

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1 November 2009 Ph.D. Dissertations and Copyright Issues Related to the Publication of Dissertations Each Ph.D. candidate is required to submit a manuscript copy [SINGLE-SIDED] of his or her dissertation to the University Libraries. After approval, the manuscript, with accompanying items listed in the following section, should be submitted to the designated person in the candidate s academic department who will then send the packet to the Hunt Library Mailroom Supervisor. The manuscript is sent offsite to be indexed in dissertation databases, processed for microfilming, and bound. After a few months the University Libraries receives the bound manuscript and one copy of microfiche which are cataloged and added to the collections. Dissertation Publishing Agreement Forms (DPAF) can be obtained from your departmental liaisons to the library. The Following Are To Be Submitted To The Library (submission checklist is on page iv of the DPAF) Section IV, page 3 of the DPAF (one of the four publishing options selected) Section V, page 3 of the DPAF (signed publishing agreement) Section V, page 4 of the DPAF (completed dissertation submission form ) One unbound copy of the dissertation manuscript (SINGLE-SIDED; format specifications found on page II of the DPAF) One extra copy of the title page. One extra copy of the abstract One original signature / sign off / approval page Check or money order if the author chooses Open Access publishing ($95), copyright registration ($65), or extra personal copies (in the case of ordering extra bound copies only, the author may elect to include credit card information) The Four Publishing Options One of the following publishing options (found in Section IV, page 3 of the DPAF) must be selected. Further explanation and discussion of open access publishing can be found in Guide 3 located on page VI of the DPAF. 1) TR-1: The traditional way of publishing. The dissertation is immediately available through all outlets and the author receives royalties. 2) TR-2: Same as TR-1, but the author can select an embargo (six months, one year, or two years), prevent access by search engines, and/or stop sales via third-party distributors. 3) OA-1: Open access, anyone anywhere can read or download the dissertation for free over the internet. No royalties are given. This option requires a one-time $95 fee (payable to PQIL).

2 4) OA-2: Same as OA-1, but the author can select an embargo (six months, one year, or two years), prevent access by search engines, and/or stop sales via thirdparty distributors. This option also has a $95 fee (payable to PQIL). The Agreement Form By signing the DPAF, the author allows UMI to index the dissertation in Dissertation Abstracts International and in the ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. The dissertation then becomes available for purchase by the general public through UMI. For detailed information on publishing with UMI, see Section I, page 1 of the DPAF. Signing the Doctoral Dissertation Agreement Form DOES NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVE COST to the author. The author only pays fees if s/he wishes to apply for registration of their claim to copyright through UMI (see below), if the author selects open access publishing (see above), or if they wish to order extra bound copies of the dissertation (over and above the single library copy) through UMI. (The author may elect to bind extra copies of their dissertation through a third-party bindery. The library is not involved in such transactions.) It is STRONGLY recommended that any payment to UMI be made in the form of a money order rather than a check. Copyright The author may elect to register copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office directly ( the author may elect to register copyright through UMI; or the author may elect not to register copyright at all. The following is from the UMI dissertation publishing brochure: Copyright privileges reside with you immediately upon creation of your work. REGISTRATION of your copyright establishes a public record of your dissertation and confers additional legal rights, enabling you to file infringement suits and seek statutory damages and attorneys fees. If you wish to register your copyright but prefer not to handle the details yourself, UMI will act as your agent with the Library of Congress Copyright Office. This includes preparation of the application (in your name) plus submission of the application fee and required deposit copy(ies) of your work. You will receive your certificate of copyright registration from the Copyright Office approximately eight to ten weeks after UMI receives your manuscript. By signing the Copyright Registration Form portion of the dissertation publishing packet (page 5), the author elects UMI to register copyright on the author s behalf and consequently owes them $65 (payable to PQIL). Again, it is STRONGLY recommended that any payment to UMI be made in the form of a money order rather than a check. Questions/Problems Any questions or problems should be directed to the Hunt Library Mailroom Supervisor,

3 Copyright Issues Related to the Publication of Dissertations Lynn Berard and Carnegie Mellon s Office of Legal Counsel June 2009 Copyright affects your dissertation in two ways. As an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression, your dissertation is protected by copyright, which gives you as the copyright holder the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works and distribute it to the public. On the other hand, works created by others that you want to incorporate into your dissertation (for example charts, drawings, photographs, computer programs, music, etc.) are protected by copyright as well, and you must get permission from the copyright holders to use them in your dissertation. You also must get permission to use previously-published articles in your dissertation, even, in many cases, if you were the author of the previously-published article. To avoid publication delays, you should get permissions from copyright holders to use their materials in your dissertation as early in the process as possible rather than waiting until you re ready to publish. Carnegie Mellon works with ProQuest/UMI to publish students dissertations. PQ/UMI provides an excellent overview of copyright issues related to the publication of dissertations, Copyright Law & Graduate Research: New Media, New Rights and Your New Dissertation by Kenneth D. Crews, online at: US/products/dissertations/copyright/ For more general information about copyrights, including how to register copyrights, see Copyright Basics by the U.S. Copyright Office: Your dissertation is copyrighted. As an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression, your dissertation is protected by copyright. Copyright exists as soon as a work is fixed in a tangible medium. By giving the copyright holder the exclusive right to copy, prepare derivative works and distribute the work to the public, copyright gives the copyright holder the ability to determine whether and how the copyrighted work is used by others. Copyrights do not have to be registered to be official. Copyright exists, without registration a process for registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office as soon as a work is fixed; you don t need to register a copyright to make it official. But there are advantages to registration, for example, your copyright must be registered before you can sue someone for infringing it. PQ/UMI will register the copyright to your dissertation with the U.S. CopyrightOffice for you for an extra fee. Or you can do it yourself by mail or online, using forms provided by the U.S.Copyright Office. See:

4 You must get permission to use others work. Because of copyright protection, you must get permission to use other people s work in your dissertation. PQ/UMI provides a useful guide to copyright issues online at: PQ/UMI requires you to obtain appropriate permissions for works by others that are incorporated into your dissertation and to submit those permissions along with your dissertation manuscript. Failure to get appropriate permissions may delay the publication of your dissertation. In addition, the UMI Publishing Agreement states that you are solely responsible for getting appropriate permissions and that you will indemnify PQ/UMI for any third party claims related to the work you submit. This means that if someone sues PQ/UMI for copyright infringement because of materials you used improperly without permission in your dissertation, you will be responsible for all of PQ/UMI s costs associated with the suit (in addition to any other costs or penalties that might be involved). Don t assume you can use things under fair use. Fair use permits small portions of copyrighted works to be used for limited purposes without the copyright holder s permission. But a fair use analysis is quite complex and the allowable uses are limited. You can t justify failure to get appropriate permission to use others work in your dissertation simply by claiming fair use. See Carnegie Mellon s Copyright Policy, especially the section on fair use : You probably need permission to use your own previously-published work. If portions of your dissertation previously have been published in research journals, conference proceedings or similar publications, you probably need to get permission to use your own previously-published work in your dissertation. Try to locate the agreement you signed with the publisher to determine what it says about copyright. In most cases, the agreement probably required you to assign your copyright to the publisher and you will need the publisher s permission to include the work in your dissertation. In some cases, the agreement may give you a license to use the work in certain ways even though the publisher owns the copyright. The only way you will know is to read the agreement. If you can t locate your agreement call, or write to the publisher and request a copy. Get permission in writing. PQ/UMI provides a good sample letter on-line at: Send a similar request letter to the copyright holder of the materials you want to use. As discussed above, the copyright holder is not necessarily the author of the work. To determine who owns the copyright to articles you have published, read your publishing agreement. For other materials, examine the publication, database, web site or other source where you obtained the materials for information about copyrights and/or where to send requests. Look at the copyright page of books and at the copyright, terms and conditions and/or legal notices areas of online databases or web sites. Making preliminary phone calls and/or s to determine the correct party to contact will prevent difficulties later on.

5 Keep all the permissions you obtain because you will need to send copies of them to PQ/UMI when you have your dissertation published. Creative Commons Licensing: If you wish to publish or post a copy of your dissertation under the terms of a creative commons license AND still have UMI publish the dissertation, you should be to do so as long as the creative commons license selected ONLY grants non-exclusive rights and the terms and conditions included in the creative commons license do not conflict with the kind of license you choose under the UMI document.